He is not the superstar of Côte d'Ivoire, nor Nis, who he saved by the goal he scored in the playoffs against St Etienne.
But Eli Wahi is at the heart of interest, as according to Athletic's revealing report, he was arrested as a suspect in match-related offences.
Judicial sources with knowledge of the facts confirmed that the 23-year-old striker is the subject of an active investigation with authorities trying to determine whether Wahi, while competing with Nis' jersey, deliberately accepted a yellow card in the match against Mets on May 17.
Wahi was then arrested by French police on 29 May, immediately after his excellent two-goal appearance in victory over St. Etienne, who kept Nis in Ligue 1 (the first category of France).
Nevertheless, he traveled normally to North America for the World Cup and began key in the Ivory Coast 1–0 victory over Ecuador on Sunday in Philadelphia, even having a beam in the second half.
"We can confirm that a 23-year-old footballer, who plays in French Ligue 1, was arrested on 29 May as part of an investigation opened by the Marseilles prosecution on charges involving organised fraud, organised sports corruption, acceptance of crime products and money laundering.
He was released after his interrogation in police custody. Investigations are ongoing. The footballer is not a member of the French national team participating in the World Cup". , declared a representative of the Marseille prosecutor's office.
Suspected betting patterns and Spot-Fixing
According to multiple sources, the investigation began when the French League (LFP) received notices of suspicious betting patterns in Nis's match with Mets, which concerned bets on Wahi's accepting a yellow card. The practice of manipulating specific events within a game (such as cards, corner etc.) is internationally known as spot-fixing.
Wahi was included in the Ivory Coast mission for the World Cup on 15 May, four days before the contested game with Mets. In that match, he faced the yellow card in the 35th minute after a late mark on Mets defender, Sandibu Sane. Two minutes earlier he had suffered another hard foul, but it had not brought punishment.
Due to this card (completed 5 in the season), the player was punished and missed the first remaining barrage match against St Etienne on 26 May. He returned to the rematch three days later, scoring two goals in the emphatic 4-1 that kept Niss in the charge, before being arrested immediately after the fight was over by the agents of the prosecution of economic crime and corruption.
So far he has not been charged with formal charges, as the investigation continues, which allowed him to travel for the World Cup.
The young striker had represented France in the small leagues, before changing football nationality for Côte d'Ivoire last March. In Sunday's game with Ecuador he played for 55 minutes, before being replaced by Anze Yoan-Boni, with Manchester United's Ahmad Diallo giving the victory to his team in the 90th minute.
FIFA has not responded if it was aware of the player's capture prior to his participation in the match.
Wahi is now expected to travel to Canada for his big Saturday game against Germany in Toronto. It is worth noting that just this week, the Canadian authorities refused entry into the country to Ganezo international Thomas Partei, for reasons related to the rape charges he faces in the United Kingdom (which he explicitly denies), creating questions about whether Wahi would be allowed to enter too.