DHAKA: When the FIFA World Cup started last week, it became one of the year’s most anticipated moments in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps, especially for children, to whom it gives a rare connection to a world beyond the refugee settlement.
Watching matches with their favorite players and taking part in their own local tournaments, boys and girls borrow jerseys of their favorite teams from a mobile sports library, which visits refugee settlements in Cox’s Bazar.
In the morning, they return the gear to a sports center in Camp 19, where, during the World Cup month, they can also watch the matches that took place the night before.
“Children aged between 6 and 15 come to the center to watch the matches … Girls make up around one-third of the audience,” said Molla Shihab Uddin, senior coordinator at the Friendship nongovernmental organization, which runs the sports club.
“There is a viewing hall with a large television screen where we organize World Cup screenings for Rohingya children … We record all FIFA World Cup matches and screen them the following morning.”
