Amar Benikhlef

Amar Benikhlef, born on 11 January 1982, is an Algerian judoka who competed in the middleweight division and won the silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Later he worked as a coach. When Fethi Nourine, a judoka he coached, was drawn at the 2020 Summer Games to possibly meet an Israeli opponent, the two announced Nourine's withdrawal in support of the Palestinian cause. The International Judo Federation suspended both men on 24 July 2021, citing the neutrality of sport under rule 50.2 of the Olympic Charter, and in September 2021 it suspended Benikhlef for ten years, until July 2031, for a serious breach of its statutes, its code of ethics and the Olympic Charter.