PARIS (AP) — The French soccer league said Wednesday that an “unusual amount of bets" were placed internationally on striker Elye Wahi, who is playing for Ivory Coast at the World Cup, receiving a yellow card during a Ligue 1 game with Nice in May.
Wahi started in attack for Ivory Coast when it beat Ecuador 1-0 in its opening game at the World Cup, hitting the crossbar early in the second half of that match. Ivory Coast faces Germany on Saturday in Toronto.
In a statement, the French league said it was alerted by partners monitoring betting markets about suspicious betting activity at international level concerning Nice's home game against Metz on May 17, which ended 0-0, and in which Wahi was shown a yellow card.
“These alerts concerned an unusual amount of bets being placed on a caution (yellow card) being issued to the player Elye Wahi,” the Professional Football League (LFP) said, adding that it immediately passed this information to relevant police and gambling authorities, as well as the French Football Federation.
The LFP has also taken legal steps of its own.
“A criminal complaint against persons unknown has been lodged over alleged acts potentially amounting to sports corruption and organized fraud,” the LFP said, without naming Wahi.
Wahi's representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
May 17 was the last round of the Ligue 1 season.
Less than two weeks later, Wahi helped struggling Nice stay in Ligue 1 when he scored twice in a 4-1 win over Saint-Etienne in the second leg of their promotion-relegation playoff.
The 23-year-old Wahi had 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.
A lively striker with pace and a good first touch, Wahi was once among Europe’s most promising young strikers, and clubs have paid transfer fees totaling nearly 90 million euros ($104 million) to sign him.
Three years ago, Wahi joined Lens from Montpellier for 35 million euros after scoring 19 league goals and turning down a move to Premier League club Chelsea.
Lens sold him to Marseille for 25 million euros the following season. Just 13 league games later, Wahi joined Frankfurt on a five-and-a-half-year contract. The German club paid 26 million euros for Wahi, getting just one goal in 25 games in return. ___
AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Join the ADU Resource Center of San Mateo County for a free webinar about ADU financing. Our… Read moreADU Funding For Homeowners
Bay Area soccer celebration! Live World Cup, games, meet Oakland Roots' Kendall McIntosh &am… Read moreBay Area World Cup Kickoff
Dirk van Ulden said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.