Clinching Victory
New arena, a result of Sino-senegalese cooperation, provides wrestling with a state-of-the-art venue
The final fight to pick the ultimate champion of Senegalese wrestling, initially scheduled for January 13 at Pikine’s National Wrestling Arena, finally took place at the Léopold Sédar Senghor Stadium in Dakar. The wrestling match was moved from one venue to another to allow more spectators to enjoy the legendary fight between Balla Gaye 2 and Modou Lô, according to Gaston Mbengue, the fight’s promoter. It took a lot of negotiations for this change of venue to be approved, he said.
The Léopold Sédar Senghor Stadium in Dakar, built by the Chinese in the 1980s with a capacity of 60,000 seats, has extensive experience in hosting major competitions. Therefore, it is no wonder that this infrastructure was chosen to host one last great fight before being closed for renovations. To lighten the schedule at the already-overburdened Léopold Sédar Senghor Stadium, Senegal decided to build a brand new wrestling arena.
This was a major event for the country, where wrestling and football have long been competing for the title of “national sport.” The new national wrestling arena is based in Pikine, the second most populated city in Senegal after Dakar. Although it missed the chance to host the “fight of the decade,” the new national arena is already showing its value.
To close the last wrestling season of 2018, the new arena hosted the matches that launched the unparalleled winning streak of Eumeu Sène, who beat defending