The story of a sports hero whose life ended with a bullet in the head during the Iraqi protests

Ali Nouri-Baghdad

Ali Akbar, a 20-year-old Yemeni, used to continue his favorite game and continue to raise his country's name high in foreign forums.However, a sniper bullet killed himself in protests in early October, leaving more than 130 people dead and thousands injured.

Ali won the last gold medal in the last West Asian Championship, which was held in the Jordanian capital Amman last July, the last achievement he gave to Iraq before his death.

Born in 1999, Ali Akbar is the third of his siblings among a family living in Sadr City, a slum in Baghdad.

He practiced his judo hobby at Al-Hassanein Club, then moved to Al-Mithaq Club. He also represented the police and army clubs. He also represented Iraq's judo teams in all age groups.

Salam Kamel, Ali Akbar's trainer and a close associate, recounted the details of his death during the demonstrations.He said that the late was with a group of young people in Palestine Street, chanting national slogans, holding Iraqi flags.He was surprised by a sniper bullet that settled in his head to drop him to the ground and Iraq lose a special sports hero.

Kamel revealed that Ali Akbar received a salary of 350,000 dinars (about $ 290) a month when he was a player in the Army Club, and he donated a large part of it to the needy families in his area.

The Committee on Youth and Sports in the Iraqi parliament, the killing of the hero Ali Akbar, expressed in a statement expressed deep sorrow for the loss of one of the athletes champions during the demonstrations.

"We have lost the project of an Olympic champion and a talented Iraqi youth project," the parliamentary committee said in a statement. "The government has failed with it. It has not paid its monthly salaries this year and has not been able to protect it alongside the demonstrators."

Ali Akbar not only played judo, he was continuing his sixth year of preparatory education and aspired to enter the Faculty of Physical Education.He also worked in construction workshops in search of an additional livelihood to cover some of his and his family's needs.

The late champion won many titles and honors, including the Iraq Championship in 2014, the Baghdad Championship 2015, the Republic Championship 2015, the Japanese Ambassador Championship 2018, the Asian Championship in Lebanon, and finished sixth in addition to the bronze medal in the Sousse International Championship held in Tunisia, and the gold medal For the West Asian Championships held in Jordan this year.

The Chairman of the Committee on Youth and Sports Abbas Aliwi in an interview with the island Net that the killing of the hero Ali the biggest great loss of Iraqi sports.

"We have suspended our membership in the Iraqi parliament as a result of the use of force against demonstrators, and demanded an investigation into the killing of the Iraqi hero along with many young people who were killed during the protests," Allawi said.

He called on the Iraqi government and the Ministry of Youth and Sports to pay tribute to the late family and honor, because he was an Iraqi hero and achieved the country many achievements, and demanded to pay his salaries as soon as possible.

For his part, President of the Iraqi Judo Federation Samir al-Moussawi told Al Jazeera Net that the Union will submit a request to the Ministry of Youth and Sports in order to provide a sum of money from the budget of the Union to support the family of the late hero and disbursement of his late dues.

He stressed that Ali Akbar will be honored by naming one of the local judo tournaments in his name in honor of him and his courage and for the achievements and honors he has given to Iraq.