Senegal’s traditional wrestlers, who are revered by millions of adoring fans, have reacted in anger to rumors that they were behind violence in the west African nation this month.
Usually seen as a haven of stability in a volatile region, Senegal was rocked by a week of deadly clashes between opposition supporters and police.
At least five people were killed in the unrest, sparked by the arrest of the country’s opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, a government critic popular with young people.
Thousands of young protesters looted shops, hurled stones at police and torched vehicles during demonstrations across the country.
In the confusion, rumors swirled that practitioners of Senegal’s centuries-old wrestling tradition — mostly heavy-set, muscled men — were involved.
Some on social media suggested that the government had hired wrestlers to quell demonstrations.
The government itself suggested that wrestlers were among the protesters.
Senegalese Minister of Justice Malick Sall said in an interview that COVID-19 restrictions explained the unrest and pointed to wrestlers as an example.
“The young people, many of them were in the wrestling stables,” Sall said, adding that young wrestlers had spent their days training and fighting.
“This allowed them not only to let off steam, but to earn a living and that is something they have been deprived of for almost a year,” he said.
However, Sall touched a nerve, appearing to cast doubt on fighters who are lionized throughout the country, where wrestling is a major spectator sport.
Senegal’s wrestling world has rejected suggestions that fighters were drawn into the violent politics of the past few weeks.
“Not a single licensed wrestler took part in the rallies,” said Khadim Gadiaga, the head of a respected wrestling stable in the capital, Dakar.
He also denied that any fighters had worked as state-sponsored thugs, saying that wrestlers had never marched “in the history of this country.”
Like many other sports, wrestling has suffered since the onset of the pandemic, some fighters say.
Group training has been banned to curb infections, alongside traditional bouts — where hulking fighters dressed in loincloths face off in packed stadiums, performing mystic rituals in the sand before going toe-to-toe.
The restrictions have put about 8,000 professional wrestlers out of a job.
Ibrahima Dione, the president of Senegal’s national wrestling association, told reporters that “for a year now, the fighters have had nothing, not even a penny.”
“Many of them have lost hope and are taking canoes to Spain,” he said, referring to the Atlantic Ocean migration route from Senegal to Europe.
But to Dione, the minister’s words stung, as so many young wrestlers have seen their livelihoods disappear.
“It’s dangerous for the youth who have lost hope,” he said. “The state has an obligation to help us. All wrestlers are really angry.”
Gaston Mbengue, a fight promoter, said that the debate about wrestlers’ involvement in the unrest is misplaced.
“It’s all politics,” Mbengue said.
The solution is to bring back wrestling, he said.
“The people have been locked up for a year. The people need it,” he said.
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