Two Sisters Moving Mountains for Women’s Football in Pakistan
Amid peaks rising over 6,000 meters in the remote Hunza Valley (Pakistan), two sisters have achieved the extraordinary: creating pathways to the future for hundreds of girls through football.
Players from the Passu Youth Football Academy train on their field, located in the village of Passu and surrounded by the Passu Cones, mountain peaks reaching 6,100 meters high. —Anna Huix
Karishma and Sumaira Inayat, from Shimshal in Gilgit-Baltistan, discovered football in Lahore, where they faced harassment for playing without hijab and in shorts. Instead of giving up, they turned their struggle into strength and returned home with a mission: to ensure no girl ever feels football isn’t for her.
In 2017, the Inayat sisters made history by hosting Shimshal’s first-ever girls’ championship, uniting players from 12 to 20 years old. What began as a bold initiative quickly won the hearts of local families, whose overwhelming support turned the event into a community celebration. By the next year, the ripple effect was clear: girls from remote villages—some eight to ten hours away— joined the journey, proving that the passion for football knows no distance. —Paolo Petroni
In 2018, they founded the Gilgit-Baltistan Girls Football League (GBGFL), the first girls’ league in northern Pakistan. Every summer, villages come together to support girls aged 14 to 21 in a unique tournament staged in the Karakoram mountains. The league covers transport, equipment, meals, and lodging, removing every financial barrier so that passion is the only limit.
“Our mission is to spark change and dismantle the stereotypes that confine girls,” the sisters declare. In their village, the future should not be limited to hauling buckets of water from the stream to the kitchen. In mountain communities where access to quality education remains scarce, too many girls are told that early marriage is their only destiny. Karishma and Sumaira want to prove there is another path—one where football opens doors to education, confidence, and independence. —Paolo Petroni
Their story has gone global, featured in El País and Financial Times, and captured in the award-winning documentary Girls Move Mountains by Anna Huix..
“When girls play football, they also play with the idea of a different future,” says Karishma.
“Our dream is that no girl ever feels football isn’t for her,” adds Sumaira.
Beyond sport, GBGFL is a social movement—challenging prejudice, empowering girls, and opening doors to education, independence, and dreams.
