Women step into the ring at west African wrestling tournament

Abuja, 14 March  - Legs taut, backs bent at the waist, thewrestlers slowly stretched out their arms towards each other, searching for a grip while trying to avoid becoming exposed themselves.

In a flash it was all over -- a tangle of grappling, pushing and jostling that ended with the Beninese fighter tossed to the ground by her Nigerian counterpart, the soft sand surface spraying out beneath her.

Traditional west African wrestling -- and the gargantuan, sometimes sumo-like
men who step into the ring -- captivates audiences across the region, from
stadiums in Senegal to desert villages in Niger.

This month's ECOWAS wrestling tournament, however, marked the first time that
the annual showdown featured a women's division, drawing competitors from
across the regional bloc to the Nigerian capital Abuja.

"Women know how to fight. We just had to be given a chance," 33-year-old
Ivorian fighter Celine Bakayoko told AFP from the sidelines.

She only started competing professionally in 2019, but she said she grew up
wrestling with her friends, adding that "for us, it's not a sport, it's an
innate practice."

"They look serious, they don't look like they're just coming here to fill a
gap," spectator Yussuff Fashola said.

Though the tournament, which continued into the weekend, marked a step
forwards for women in the male-dominated sport, "to get other females on your
team, to be able to train with them... that's the challenge," said Ghana's
Jocelyn Asante.

But even after suffering a defeat, Liberia's Garmai Sanghno found a silver
lining in "representing my country" and using the opportunity to "develop
skills" for future bouts.

- Missing champions -

Missing, however, was last year's medal table-toppers, Niger.

Run by military juntas, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali all left the bloc
earlier this year after years of deteriorating relations with ECOWAS.

The split came after the July 2023 coup in Niger, when the bloc threatened
military intervention and pushed economic sanctions on Niamey.

Though envoys have been sent to bridge the divide, and ECOWAS officials at
the tournament spoke of regional unity during the opening ceremony, none of
the nations sent fighters to this year's tournament.

"Sport is supposed to unify us, right?" asked Fashola, 33, over the whoops
and whistles of a men's match, lamenting the countries' absences.

"They are our friends," said Abdullahi Ahmed Libata, the former secretary
general of the Traditional Sports Federation of Nigeria, who grew up
wrestling each dry season as rivers would recede and leave soft sandy banks
that were perfect for combat.

"Niger are our neighbours, we love them," he said. "They are our people, we
came up together."