Ivory Coast's Elye Wahi, a 2026 World Cup participant, was arrested for alleged spot-fixing just a couple of weeks before the tournament began, according to The Athletic. The player, who is 23 years of age and plays club soccer for Nice in France, is part of an active investigation into whether he earned a yellow card on purpose on May 17 against Metz, the report says. Spot-fixing is the illegal manipulation of a specific part of a sporting event, often for betting purposes, typically without affecting the overall outcome of the game, which is known as match-fixing.
Wahi was arrested by French police on May 29. He traveled to the United States for the World Cup and played in Ivory Coast's opening 1-0 win over Ecuador on Jun 14.
"We can confirm that a 23-year-old football player, competing in France's Ligue 1, was arrested on May 29 as part of an investigation opened by the Marseille public prosecutor's office into allegations of organized fraud, organized sports corruption, handling of proceeds of crime and money laundering," a spokesperson for the Marseille public prosecutor's office told The Athletic.
"He was released after he was interviewed in police custody. The investigations remain ongoing. The football player is not a member of the French [national team] taking part in the World Cup."
Officials began looking into Wahi after reportedly receiving several notifications of suspicious betting patterns involving bets on Wahi to receive a yellow card. Wahi received a yellow card in the 35th minute of the game after a late tackle on Metz's Sadibou Sane.
Wahi has not been charged with any crime and the investigation remains ongoing.
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