Khalida Popal

Khalida Popal was the founder of the Afghan women’s national football team and is now a refugee living in Denmark. In Afghanistan she was working for women’s rights especially in football but was continuously harassed, assaulted and received death threats. In the end, she had to flee her home country. As a result of her struggles she suffered from depression but used football as a way of overcoming the mental struggles. She is now using the beautiful game to empower young women from different backgrounds. She also uses football as a platform to tell her story, to speak up against injustice and to support other females to own their voices. She was suppressed by extremist people who were afraid of losing power to women but instead of giving up, she raised her voice. This year, Khalida has featured in articles published by the Guardian, BBC and New York Times.