Dakar-Senegal — The Iba Mar Diop Stadium Dakar came agog on Thursday, 12th July 2012 with wrestlers from 13 of the 15 ECOWAS Member States hitting the sandy arena as the 5th ECOWAS African Wrestling Tournament got under way in the Senegalese capital. Declaring open the three-day competition in five weight categories - 66kg, 76kg, 86kg, 100kg and 120kg - as well as country teams, Senegal's Sports Minister, Elhadji Malick Gakou, said ECOWAS seeks through the tournament to consolidate unity and understanding among the people of the Community. The dual objective, he said, are to promote African traditional wresting, which is a popular sport in Senegal and also engender regional integration.
The minister thanked ECOWAS for giving Senegal the opportunity to host the tournament and expressed the hope that this edition would surpass previous ones in success. In an address of welcome on behalf of the ECOWAS Commissioner for Human Development and Gender, Dr. Adrienne Diop, the Director of the Ouagadougou- based ECOWAS Youth and Sports Development Centre, Mr. Francis Njoaguani, said the aim is to make the tournament a great event in the Community's sporting calendar and globally, especially in view of its rich cultural benefits. He explained that by developing African wrestling, ECOWAS hopes to raise participation in the sport and thereby promote the necessary infrastructure for its growth and also make the sport attractive to children, youth, spectators and sponsors.
To this end, the Director said the Youth and Sports Development Centre has continued to work with the Association of West African Wrestling Federations (AFLAO), on the technical training of coaches and referees. He commended Senegal's National Committee for the Management of Wrestling for the remarkable efforts deployed and the mobilization of the public and private sectors, children, the youth, men and women in rural and urban centres towards ensuring a successful tournament, adding that this example should be emulated by other Member States. With the opening ceremony over, the wrestlers swung into action with host and tournament favourites Senegal advancing to the semi-finals of the team event, along with Niger, Nigeria and Togo. The competition is a regional tournament organized annually by the ECOWAS Youth and Sports Development Centre in collaboration with Senegal's National Committee for the Management of Wrestling, an agency of the sports ministry. Wrestlers from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo and Senegal are competing in this edition with Ghana and Cape Verde absent.
The 8th Edition of the second regional annual event, the ECOWAS Traditional Wrestling Tournament (TOLAC), organized in collaboration with Niger, took place in the nation's capital Niamey, last April. The two competitions are organized within the context of executing the decision of regional leaders adopting African wrestling as an official sport of the Community, and popularizing it to achieve Olympic Games status. The sport has been recognized by the African Union and is one of the events featuring in the next Francophonie Games.
