Spot-fixing: Ivory Coast World Cup player in trouble

Elye Wahi

Ivory Coast international Elye Wahi has been denied entry to Canada for his country’s World Cup group game against Germany on Saturday.

The forward was reportedly arrested last month before the World Cup over alleged involvement in spot-fixing in Ligue 1.

Wahi, 23 - who started Sunday’s World Cup win over Ecuador – has been accused of deliberately earning a yellow card while playing for Nice against Metz in May.

Spot-fixing is the practice of deliberately affecting match incidents in a way that allows people to profit through betting markets.

A statement to the Athletic from the public prosecutor’s office in Marseille confirmed a 23-year-old football player, competing in France’s Ligue 1, was arrested, without naming Wahi.

On Wednesday, Ligue de Football (LFP) confirmed they had been alerted to “an unusually high volume of bets placed on a warning involving the player Elye Wahi”.

The Ivory Coast’s football federation (FIF) say they had not been told of any “judicial or administrative proceedings” against Wahi, but confirmed he had not been able to obtain authorisation to enter Canada. 

(BBC sport)