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.
