How Pakistan Women's Football Survived to Make Its FIFA Debut

For decades, Pakistan's women football had no federation support, no funding, and no path to international competition. They built their own anyway, starting with a single club founded in a Karachi backyard and growing into a movement that survived internal warfare, government interference, and several takeovers of federation headquarters that got the banned by FIFA. In this episode, Kavitha Davidson traces that fight from Pakistan's dusty rural pitches to a diaspora spread across Europe and North America, and follows the squad that came out the other side all the way to Ivory Coast, where Pakistan's women's team made its first-ever FIFA-sanctioned appearance and made history. Host: Kavitha A. Davison | Producer & Writer: Paroma Chakravarty I Executive Producer: Saadia Khan | Research & Script: Juan Sebastian Camacho| Sound Designer & Editor: Paroma Chakravarty I Sportly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound | Cover Art Graphic Designer: Sarah DiMichele Please share the love and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify to help more people find us!  You can reach the host, Kavitha, at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Find Sportly on Instagram @sportlypod Follow us on TikTok @immigrantly  Sportly is an Immigrantly Media Production For advertising inquiries, you can contact us at [email protected] Want to go deeper into your own identity? Download Belong on Your Own Terms, the app helping first-gen, second-gen, and third-culture kids reclaim belonging on their own terms.  link below ⁠http://studio.com/saadia⁠ Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can get more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Remember to subscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠Apple podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠channel⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices