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Karishma Ali

Overview

Awards

Gender : Female

Skills

» Sports

Written By - Team Nettv4u

Football pioneer Karishma Ali represents empowerment, tenacity, and resilience in addition to being a sporting legend. Karishma was born in Chitral, Pakistan, and her path from that scenic valley to becoming a beacon of hope for Pakistan's aspirant female athletes is nothing short of remarkable. Karishma's passion for football started when she and her friends started playing street football. Her entry into professional football, meanwhile, was not without its difficulties. She had to resist prejudices and cultural pressures to follow her passion in a culture where conventional norms frequently prevent women from participating in sports. The support of her family was essential in enabling her to pursue her goals.

Karishma started playing for the Chitral Women's Football Club after the local coaches saw her skill. Her rise in Pakistani women's football began with this. Karishma and her teammates persisted despite the absence of adequate infrastructure and resources. Although they frequently used improvised equipment and trained on dusty, difficult terrain, their determination knew no bounds. Karishma, who represented Pakistan in the Jubilee Games in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2010, excelled, opening up more opportunities as a result. She finally earned attention on the Pakistan Women's National Football Team as a result of her ongoing success in regional and international games. She represented Pakistan at an international level and became the first woman from Chitral to represent Pakistan at such a level.

In the year 2019, she was featured by Forbes 30 under 30 in the sports and entertainment category. Her team at the AFL International Cup was the first women’s team of Pakistan to reach such an international level. Aiming to close the gap between Italy and nine of its mission countries, including Pakistan, Haitian-Italian designer Stella Jean visited Pakistan in 2019 as part of her collection Laboratory of Nations. Using traditional embroidery from the Chitral and Kalash region, Jean worked with Karishma Ali to produce designs in Pakistan. Jean also went to the Kalash Valley, where she met female craftspeople from Karishma Ali's Chitral Women's Handicrafts Centre.

She attended Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) to pursue a degree in international relations. Additionally, she was a founding member of the Chitral Women's Sports Club, a group that works to break down gender barriers and encourage women's participation in sports in her community. This was the first women’s sports club in Chitral. She serves as a monument of strength, resiliency and confidence.