Female grapplers take it to the mat in Egypt
The first Egyptian women to wrestle professionally are breaking taboos and fighting for recognition.
It’s taken decades for women to be taken seriously in US professional wrestling, so imagine the challenges Egyptian women face. Until recently, there was no such thing as women’s wrestling in the country, let alone a team comprising both women and men.
But Ashraf Mahrous, an Egyptian who’s coached a number of martial arts, made a move unprecedented in the history of Egyptian sports by founding the Egyptian Arab Federation of Professional Wrestlers league — the first professional program in Egypt to have male and female participants in this combat sport.
