French Soccer League Reports Suspicious Bets Placed on Player Getting a Yellow Card

The French soccer league announced on Wednesday that an unusual number of bets were placed on striker Elye Wahi receiving a yellow card during a Ligue 1 game in May. Wahi played for the French club Nice in a match against Metz on May 17, which ended in a 0-0 draw. Betting monitors noticed something strange — many people around the world had bet that Wahi specifically would get a yellow card in that game, and he did.

The Professional Football League, known as the LFP, said it was alerted by partners who keep watch on betting markets worldwide. These partners noticed a suspicious spike in bets all focused on Wahi being shown a yellow card. The LFP quickly passed the information to police, gambling authorities, and the French Football Federation.

The LFP also filed a criminal complaint against unknown persons, saying the bets may be linked to sports corruption and organized fraud. Sports corruption means people try to control what happens in a game in order to win money through bets. The league did not name Wahi directly in the complaint, but the case centers on the bets placed before his yellow card.

Wahi's representatives did not respond to requests for comment, so it is not yet clear whether Wahi himself is suspected of any wrongdoing. It is possible others may have arranged the bets without his knowledge. Investigations like this can take a long time to resolve.

May 17 was the last day of the Ligue 1 regular season. Less than two weeks later, Wahi scored twice in a 4-1 win over Saint-Etienne, helping Nice avoid relegation — being dropped to a lower division. That was a major moment for both Wahi and the club.

Wahi is 23 years old and joined Nice on loan from the German club Eintracht Frankfurt back in January. A loan means a player moves to a new club temporarily before returning to his original team. During his time with Nice, he scored nine goals in 18 games and helped the team reach the French Cup final.

Wahi is currently playing for Ivory Coast at the World Cup. He started their opening match, a 1-0 win over Ecuador, and even hit the crossbar — the top bar of the goal — early in the second half. Ivory Coast's next match is against Germany in Toronto on Saturday.

Wahi has long been considered one of Europe's most promising young strikers, and clubs have paid a combined total of nearly 90 million euros, about $104 million, to sign him. Three years ago, he turned down a move to Chelsea to join Lens from Montpellier for 35 million euros after scoring 19 league goals. Lens later sold him to Marseille, and Eintracht Frankfurt then signed him on a long contract, though he managed only one goal in 25 games for the German club.