| Description |
Born in a straw hut in West Java, Esti Puji Lestari has always battled the current – yet stayed ahead of the game. When “too young” for school, she still topped the class.She made her fortune before getting her Masters. When she decided to clean up football and get women to play, Indonesia was banned by FIFA; games were often fixed; refs were bribed; fans fought and players went to matches in tanks. The club she bought, Persijap Jepara, erupted so often it was called a volcano. After relegation, she was assaulted by fans in front of her children. But she never gave up. To raise a women’s team, she “almost had to kidnap girls”. And when they lost 10-0, 9-0 and 6-0 she “needed a lasso” to stop them running off the field. She still started a women’s league. In 2018, she was among the Top 50 Asia-Pacific women leaders. And in 2019 her men’s club won promotion. This is the amazing story of how a skinny girl from Sukabumi, who taught herself English, French and Mandarin from cassettes, overcame every obstacle to blaze a trail for women in a volatile, macho environment. Her last job in football was General Manager of Qingdao in China’s League 2.
20 x 13 cms, softback, 194 pages.
2023
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