The Ivorian Football Federation announced that Elye Wahi, an Ivory Coast striker who is being investigated for alleged betting-related offenses, has been given permission to travel to Canada for his country’s World Cup match against the German national football team.
According to ESPN on Friday, ABNTV reports that the federation had earlier indicated that the 23-year-old would be unable to travel. Still, it later confirmed in a revised statement that the required authorizations had now been secured.
PUNCH Online quoted Athletic on Thursday as saying that French police arrested Wahi in May as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged spot-fixing activities.
Wahi started in Monday’s 1-0 win over the Ecuador national football team in Philadelphia.
The Elephants are scheduled to face Germany on Saturday in Toronto in their second match of the tournament.
Taous Ait, a spokesperson for Canada’s immigration minister, declined to comment on the situation, citing the need for authorisation from the individual concerned.
On the investigative side, the French soccer league said Wednesday that an “unusual amount of bets” were placed internationally on Wahi receiving a yellow card during a match on May 17 while he was playing for OGC Nice.
The league said it was alerted by betting-monitoring partners regarding suspicious activity around Nice’s home match against Metz, which ended 0-0 and in which Wahi was booked.
The information was passed on to police, gambling regulators, and the French soccer federation.
Asked whether Wahi had been questioned by police, the Marseille prosecutor’s office told The Associated Press “a 23-year-old professional football player, competing in France’s Ligue 1 championship, was arrested on May 29, 2026, as part of their investigation.”
The office added “the investigation concerns alleged offences of organised fraud, organised sports corruption, receiving stolen goods, and money laundering.” The player was questioned while in custody and later released without being detained.
Representatives for Wahi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
