Getty Images
A spot-fixing scandal has left Ivory Coast scrambling ahead of their World Cup Group E clash against Germany in Toronto on Saturday, after striker Elye Wahi was barred from entering Canada over criminal proceedings linked to alleged match manipulation in France’s Ligue 1.
The 23-year-old Nice forward is the subject of an active investigation by French authorities centred on suspicions that he deliberately earned a yellow card during a Ligue 1 fixture between Nice and Metz on May 17. Suspicious betting patterns flagged by monitoring partners of the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) triggered the probe, after several bets were placed internationally on Wahi receiving a booking in that match, which ended 0-0.
The caution came in the 35th minute when Wahi caught Metz defender Sadibou Sane with a late tackle, his fifth yellow card of the league season, earning him a suspension for the first leg of Nice’s relegation play-off against Saint-Etienne. Spot-fixing is the practice of deliberately influencing specific match incidents rather than the final result, enabling those in on the scheme to profit through betting markets.
Wahi returned for the second leg three days later and scored twice in a 4-1 win that kept Nice in France’s top division, and was named man of the match, before being arrested by French anti-corruption police after the game. He was subsequently released without charge, and the investigation remains ongoing.
A spokesperson for the Marseille public prosecutor’s office confirmed the arrest, saying it was made “as part of an investigation opened by the Marseille public prosecutor’s office into allegations of organised fraud, organised sports corruption, handling of proceeds of crime and money laundering.” The official confirmed the detained player was not part of France’s World Cup squad, but declined to name Wahi.
On Wednesday, the LFP confirmed it had been alerted to “an unusually high volume of bets placed on a warning involving the player Elye Wahi.” The league said it would make no further public comment given the ongoing investigation and confidentiality requirements imposed by police, but added that it “reserves the right” to initiate disciplinary proceedings depending on how the case develops. “The LFP reiterates that it remains fully committed to ensuring the integrity of its competitions and that it will act with the utmost firmness against any behaviour that could compromise it.”
The Ivory Coast Football Federation (FIF) said it had not been officially notified of any judicial or administrative proceedings against the player, but acknowledged he would not be joining the squad’s travel to Canada. “The FIF has not been officially notified of any judicial or administrative proceedings involving him,” it said in a statement. “In this particularly delicate period, the FIF extends all its support to the player and reaffirms its confidence in him. Elye Wahi remains an important element of the Ivory Coast national team.” The federation confirmed that “the necessary administrative authorisations for his entry into Canadian territory could not be obtained at this stage” and that Wahi “will therefore remain in the United States pending the team’s return.”
Wahi had started in attack for Ivory Coast when they beat Ecuador 1-0 in their World Cup opener, hitting the crossbar early in the second half. He joined Nice on loan from German club Eintracht Frankfurt in January and scored nine goals in 18 games overall, helping Nice reach the French Cup final. Clubs have paid transfer fees totalling nearly 90 million euros to sign him over his career, underlining his standing as one of Europe’s most coveted young forwards.
FIFA had not offered a comment on Wahi’s status as of June 17, and it remains unclear whether the governing body was aware of his arrest before the tournament began.
Wahi is the second World Cup player to be denied entry into Canada, after Ghana’s Thomas Partey was refused a visa due to ongoing criminal proceedings in the United Kingdom. Partey, the former Arsenal midfielder, pleaded not guilty to seven charges of rape and one count of sexual assault relating to allegations by four different women between 2020 and 2022, and is scheduled to stand trial next year. He wrongly declared to Canadian officials that he had never been arrested or charged with a crime, missed Ghana’s group-stage win over Panama as a result, and a subsequent appeal by the Ghanaian government to a federal court in Ottawa was rejected.
Ivory Coast face Germany in Toronto on Saturday before rounding off their Group E campaign against Curacao in Philadelphia next Thursday.
By: Andrews Kwesi Yeboah