Ivory Coast’s Wahi barred from WC match in Canada amid match-fixing probe

Wahi was unauthorised for travel after he was reportedly arrested last month in a French spot-fixing investigation.

Ivory Coast forward Elye Wahi will not travel to Canada for this weekend’s World Cup clash with Germany in Toronto because his authorisation to visit the country has not been obtained, the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF) said on Thursday.

The announcement came the day after Wahi was linked to an investigation into suspected sports corruption, with French authorities saying unusual betting patterns were detected around a yellow card Wahi received in a Ligue 1 match while playing for his club side Nice last month.

Wahi, who was not immediately available to comment, has not been named as a suspect.

A spokesperson for the Marseille prosecutor’s office told Reuters that a 23-year-old Ligue 1 player was taken into custody on May 29 as part of an investigation into suspected organised fraud, organised sports corruption, handling stolen goods and money laundering.

Wahi started up front when Ivory Coast defeated Ecuador 1-0 in their World Cup opener in Philadelphia on Monday. He will remain in the US pending the team’s return, the federation said.