Football fever grips refugees in Bangladesh

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While the World Cup is unfolding miles away; Bangladesh’s Rohingya refugee camps are abuzz with activity.

Flags of the favorite football teams are flying in almost every third tent; children play football in the streets with bottles or deflated footballs or whatever else they find as that’s what everyone has been watching or talking about.

One football field in Kutupalong is busy these days because youngsters are not just watching matches they are also learning new techniques and practicing daily.

Mohammed Tayyab, 20, is the captain of his team from Camp G. He is passionate about the game and is one of the best players among the seven teams in the camps that play each other.

“We do not have a coach so we wait for the world cup every year. It is by watching our favorite players and teams play that we have coached ourselves. I have been a fan of Brazil since I was a kid and watching them I have improved my game,” says Tayyab.

The players in the camps work hard but they do not have a platform to showcase their talents.

CGTN Photo

Mohammed Yunus, another player adds, “We have to just play with each other as we are not allowed to step out of the camp area to play with any of the other teams from any of the districts of Bangladesh. We would love to test ourselves in a competition but we are refugees and we are confined to the camps”.

Camps have special football viewing sessions. In dingy “VCR parlors”, tents which can host seventy to eighty people, there is a television on which the fans watch the matches of their favorite teams.

The video parlors in the Rohingya refugee camps are minting money these days. For about 25 cents a match, fans can watch their favorite football players scoring goals or chasing the ball.

Tickets get sold like hot cakes just before a match begins. Modhammed Irfan the owner of one of these parlors is a fan of the Brazilian team.

“I enjoy watching the game so thought of creating this space for people who love to watch football. After all we do not have much entertainment in our lives. Football is a good entertainer and people love it. It’s a house full here always,” says Irfan.

Emotions are high in the camps as the supporters want their team to win the World Cup. Argentina flags are visible everywhere in the camps and when it lost to Croatia many were disappointed. Mohammed Idris, who does not play football but is a fan of Argentina, has been angry with his team for losing.

“We burnt the flags of Argentina as they disappointed us. I have pulled down the flag which was on the roof of my tent, as I am not sure if they can come back in the game,” a livid Idris says.

In Kutupalong camp there were two football fields but one is now being used to run a healthcare center after the arrival of new refugees in August last year.

More than 700,000 refugees crossed the Myanmar border to take refuge in Bangladesh against the crackdown of the militia. But the other field is always busy.

Spectators are of all age groups also girls but they are not allowed to play. Nasreena Begum, 11, who loves watching the boys play says, “Girls don’t play football, it’s a boys game”. But she loves to watch the game.

While the World Cup is on, football will be an outlet for joy and entertainment in the otherwise miserable day to day life of the refugees.