Photo: Supplied / Joe Martin Thomas
Khalida Popal found a passion for football against an unlikely backdrop in Afghanistan, in the mid-'90s; a time when women were not seen to have a place in sport.
She eventually rallied a team and became co-founder and the first captain of the women's national football team, and head of finance at the country's Football Federation.
But it came at a personal cost. In 2011, the then-24-year-old was forced to flee the country as threats - and actual violence - were levelled against her.
Khalida Popal continued her advocacy from Denmark, and then as Taliban rule tightened again in 2021, Ms Popal rallied an international sporting community to help more than 500 people - female players and their families - flee Afghanistan.
Her memoir, My Beautiful Sisters, tells the story of how she used her growing prominence in football as a platform to fight for women's rights.
