ELIAS Nacif

General
BRAZIL TO LEBANON
He was born in Brazil but his great-grandfather was Lebanese. He changed nationality to represent Lebanon in 2013. "I switched because I love Lebanon and Lebanon is my country of origin. Lebanon offered me the chance to travel to competitions, earn a salary, and stay in Brazil. The Brazilian Judo Confederation cannot send everyone to competitions, but in Lebanon, I'm the guy." (al-monitor.com, 04 Aug 2016; loboesporte.globo.com, 03 Jul 2016; judoinside.com, 16 Apr 2016; judobase.org, 26 Aug 2013)

RIO DISQUALIFICATION
He was disqualified from the preliminary round of the men's judo 81kg category at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after he was adjudged to have performed an illegal joint-lock move. He initially refused to leave the mat before later apologising for his behaviour and the example he may have set to younger members of the crowd. "I apologised to the public because of my reaction. This reaction was an angry reaction, because I have trained very hard for the last four years. I have no idea why I was disqualified but I accept what the judge has said. Furthermore, I apologise to all the children who attended as I'm very concerned about setting a good example to those who are the future of judo." (ONS, 09 Aug 2016)

OCCUPATION
He runs Espaco Team Nacif Elias, a judo club in Vitoria, Brazil. (Instagram profile, 22 Jun 2021; Espaco Nacif Elias Facebook page, 24 May 2018; X-Combat Tv News, 15 May 2018)