An Ivory Coast star was arrested less than two weeks before the tournament as part of an alleged match-fixing investigation, according to The Athletic.
Elye Wahi, 23, started Ivory Coast’s 1-0 win over Ecuador in Philadelphia on Sunday, playing 55 minutes and hitting the crossbar before being substituted.
But before traveling to the World Cup, the forward had been taken into custody by French police on May 29 as part of an ongoing probe connected to his time at Nice.
Wahi has not been charged with a crime.
The investigation is centered on whether Wahi deliberately picked up a yellow card during Nice’s Ligue 1 match against Metz on May 17.
The Athletic revealed that French authorities are looking into allegations including organized fraud, organized sports corruption, handling proceeds of crime and money laundering.
A spokesperson for the Marseille public prosecutor’s office confirmed to the outlet that a 23-year-old Ligue 1 player had been arrested on May 29 and later released after being questioned in police custody.
The spokesperson did not name Wahi, but said the player was not part of France’s World Cup squad.
The alleged incident came after suspicious betting patterns were flagged around Wahi receiving a yellow card in the Metz match, according to the report.
Wahi was booked in the 35th minute for a late challenge on Metz defender Sadibou Sane. He had also committed a foul two minutes earlier on Bouna Sarr, though that tackle did not result in a card.
The booking carried immediate consequences for Nice. It was Wahi’s fifth yellow card of the Ligue 1 season, meaning he was suspended for the first leg of the club’s relegation playoff against Saint-Etienne.
He returned for the second leg three days later and scored twice in a 4-1 win that kept Nice in France’s top division. Wahi was named man of the match before being arrested by French police after the game.
The case involves alleged spot-fixing, which refers to manipulating a specific event within a game rather than the final score.
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Despite the ongoing investigation, Wahi traveled to North America with Ivory Coast and was in the starting lineup for the team’s World Cup opener.
FIFA has not respond when asked whether it knew about Wahi’s arrest before Sunday’s match or whether the situation would affect his eligibility to play or travel.
Wahi previously represented France at youth level before switching to Ivory Coast earlier this year.
He joined Nice on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt in January and scored five goals in 14 Ligue 1 appearances during the second half of the season.
Ivory Coast is scheduled to face Germany in Toronto on Saturday in its second Group E match.