My Beautiful Sisters
A Story of Courage, Hope and the Afghan Women’s Football Team
Failed to add items
Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.
Add to basket failed.
Please try again later
Add to wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Remove from wishlist failed.
Please try again later
Adding to library failed
Please try again
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Unlimited access to our all-you-can-listen catalogue of 15K+ audiobooks and podcasts
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.
My Beautiful Sisters
Narrated by:
Lara Sawalha
Buy Now for £12.99
-
Narrated by:
-
Lara Sawalha
-
By:
-
Khalida Popal
About this listen
WINNER OF VIKKI ORVICE AWARD FOR WOMEN'S SPORTS WRITING 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024
A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST SUMMER BOOKS OF 2024
'Riveting, heart-wrenching and incredibly important . . . an inspirational story for girls and women everywhere' MALALA YOUSAFZAI, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
A story of survival, sisterhood and the fight for feminism in the age of the Taliban.
August 2021: Kabul falls to the Taliban.
Overnight, life for women across Afghanistan changes.
The national women's football team faces an imminent threat to their lives, just for playing sport.
For Khalida Popal, the team's first captain and co-founder, this is not an unprecedented event. Born in Afghanistan, as a child she fled Taliban rule with her family and grew up in a refugee camp in Pakistan. On her return to Afghanistan, football gave her and her teammates power, comradeship and freedom. But advocating for women's rights in sport put Popal's life increasingly at risk, forcing her to flee the country, this time alone.
As a refugee in Denmark, Popal worked to uncover widespread sexual abuse of players by the former president of the Afghanistan Football Federation - forcing FIFA and the government of Afghanistan to act. When Kabul falls Khalida is safe, but her teammates are left behind. Against all the odds, she and a small but mighty network of allies orchestrate an international evacuation strategy to save them.
My Beautiful Sisters is a gripping memoir about courage, the power of teamwork against all odds and the existence of hope in dark times.©2024 Khalida Popal
Critic reviews
Riveting, heart-wrenching and incredibly important. My Beautiful Sisters shows us the value of raising our voices in the face of injustice, the ability of sport to unite us all and the strength we have when we stand together. This is an inspirational story for girls and women everywhere, but essential reading for everyone (MALALA YOUSAFZAI, Nobel Peace Prize laureate)
quite simply incredible
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.