Cox’s Bazar
Spirit
Our first clubhouse to graduate to local ownership, the Cox's Bazar Spirit is the home of sport in the world's largest refugee camp. Everyday, balls fly, music is on, matches are screened — and the unbeatable spirit is palpable.
Cox’s Bazar is located on the southeast coast of Bangladesh
A clubhouse for girls who break down stereotypes in Cox's Bazar
In the world's largest refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, sport lights up the lives of thousands of children. When they wear a new kit, pass a football to a friend or hit a 6 in cricket, happiness, friendship and positivity take centre stage.
Cox's Bazar hosts more than 1 million Rohingya refugees, a stateless Muslim minority, who have been forcibly displaced from Myanmar in successive waves of violence. They live in the camp since 2017 with few opportunities or prospects for the future. Over half of them are children, brimming with talent and potential.
Life in the world's largest refugee camp should be about much more than just survival. This is why we joined forces in 2022 with football club Paris Saint-Germain and the incredible Bangladeshi NGO Friendship to build a clubhouse on top of a hill in Camp 19. Together, we created a sports pitch, a sports library, and most importantly, a safe and welcoming space where Rohingya children can play, learn, and connect. Today, the project is fully in the hands of our local partner Friendship, who manage all operations, funding and management of the clubhouse.
The project combines the Club Centre with an innovative Mobile Clubhouse on wheels: sharing its time between schools in the Bangladeshi host community and the Rohingya camps, it is a true connector.
The Mobile Clubhouse is a unique bridge-building tool. Whether rolling into local schools in Cox’s Bazar or navigating the winding roads of the Rohingya camps, the clubhouse on wheels is instantly recognised – a beacon of colour, energy, and hope.
It carries sports equipment, broadcasts matches, and brings training sessions to children and families across the region. For those living further away from the main Club Centre in Camp 19, it’s a lifeline to play. For local Bangladeshi children, it opens the door to connection through sport. And for many girls, it’s their first chance to step onto the field.
Wherever it goes, the Mobile Clubhouse makes sure that every child, local or refugee, boy or girl, can play, unwind, and dream again.
Clubhouse agenda
The Cox’s Bazar Spirit Club Centre and Mobile Clubhouse offer a vibrant mix of activities for Rohingya and Bangladeshi children. The exemplary schedule gives a glimpse of what’s happening. It changes and adapts to the day, the weather, and most importantly, to what the children want most.
Tuesday
05 May ’26
10:00
Sepak Takraw Training
Also called "kick volleyball" this game is not only fun to play but also incredible to watch! Location: Club Centre, Camp 19.
Wednesday
06 May ’26
13:00
Badminton Training
The badminton classes are among the highlights for many students and especially popular with the younger children. Location: Thaingkhali High School.
Saturday
09 May ’26
16:00
Jungle Gym Games
Come climb in our jungle gym and bring all your new friends. Location: Club Centre, Camp 19.
Saturday
09 May ’26
All day
Mobile Clubhouse
Borrow your favourite sports equipment, watch your team play live, listen to music and take part in tournaments.
Sunday
10 May ’26
12:00
Cricket Training
Join one of the country's most popular sports and become the next 'champ of the camp'. Location: Club Centre, Camp 19.
Monday
11 May ’26
15:00
Football Coaching
Learn to dribble like Martens and to run as fast as Mbappé. Location: Palong Adarsha High School.
Sepak Takraw is one of the most popular sports of the community
Stretching circle before the fun starts
Kamal from the local KLABU team joins the action as a linesman at a local Rohingya football tournament.
The Cox's Bazar Spirit in the camp
Girls with unbeatable spirit at the club centre
A match of Rohingya favourite sport Sepak Takraw at the Club Centre
Watching games through the Mobile Clubhouse
Maya Debi's squad
The Viewing & Learning Hall, painted by the local artists of Artolution, is a space where children can watch sports and study.
More than one-third of the children that we reach through our project are girls
A game of sepak takraw facilitated by the mobile clubhouse
Sharing the fun and making friends at the club centre
THE COX'S BAZAR SPIRIT BADGE
The badge unites the Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi locals through clasped hands. The sun symbolises hope and the waves stand for the long coastline that is a pride of the Cox's Bazar's community.
The Cox's Bazar Spirit shirt launched on International Children's Day 2023 to celebrate the unbeatable spirit of the children in Cox's Bazar.
Designed with input from the children to represent and unite the players in and around the camp, the jersey features the classic KLABU pattern in a cream and blue colorway, and three crests alongside one another – each representing the Cox’s Bazar Spirit, PSG & KLABU’s, bringing the three worlds together.
Clubshirt
Co-designed with the local community, the Cox's Bazar Spirit shirt embodies the unbeatable spirit of the children in and around the camp.
Clubhouse graduation in 2026
At the start of 2026, KLABU handed over the project to its long-term partner Friendship, a key actor in the local humanitarian response and hugely well respected NGO in Bangladesh.
Following four years of collaboration, the project was in the perfect position to graduate and for Friendship to take on all project-related responsibilities.
We look forward to seeing the project shine in this new chapter and will always remain close to Friendship to guide, advise and help when needed.
Read more about our graduation strategy here
Impact between 2022 and 2025
- During the period where KLABU was directly involved, the project registered on average more than 8,500 active participations every month.
- Almost half of the children who came to the club centre were young girls, defying odds and expectations to shine on the sports fields of Cox's Bazar.
- One of the girl's teams trained by the programme at local schools competed at regional level and even become district champions! Sanchita Barua, one of the team's key players is now pursuing a career as a referee, following her dreams. Key player, Josna, got offered an academy space from the Bangladeshi national team.
- Motivated coaches from the Rohingya and local Bangladeshi community were directly engaged to organise the activities, creating 10 paid jobs in Cox's Bazar through our project partner Friendship NGO. UNHCR was and remains involved as a supporter and endorser of the project.
- The active engagement of Paris Saint-Germain was a source of hope and pride for the children. Through communications efforts and funding, PSG also helped to raise awareness and build bridges across borders.
Discover more about the Cox's Bazar Spirit, its members and impact through the stories below.
Clubhousestories
CLUBSupport
Between 2022 and 2025, the Cox's Bazar Spirit was supported by these great organisations and individuals. Today, it is entirely funded by Friendship NGO and its partners.
The project could not have been realised without many more contributors:
Wear the Cox's Bazar Spirit
By wearing KLABU sportswear, you support refugees in Cox's Bazar and around the world.
