According to information seen by The Athletic, striker of the national team of Cote d'Ivoire Elie Vai was arrested by the French police less than two years before the start of the 2026 World Cup.

The investigation was carried out as part of a large-scale investigation into the possible organization of fixed matches. The 23-year-old footballer is suspected of having carefully removed the yellow card on the 17th of May before the hour of playing for the French team Nice in the Ligue 1 match against Metz.

The result is a potential connection between these advances (let’s stop at the 35th episode) and suspicious activity on bookmaker bets.

French law enforcement officials have confirmed that they are investigating a wider range of crimes, including organized swindling, sports corruption and money grabs.. It appears that you have been grinding and supplementing on the 29th of May, but then you were released without issuing official calls until the investigation was completed.

This situation caused a significant resonance in the football world, since the very fact of the arrest did not affect the participation of the graver in the main tournament. Neither FIFA, nor the Football Federation of Cote d'Ivoire did not support the footballer, and the offense has not yet been reported.

As a result, Elijah Vai went to the tournament and was at the starting point of his national team in the first match of the group stage against the national team of Ecuador. The Ivorians managed to win 1:0 thanks to Amad Diallo's goal on the remaining goals, and Vai himself was on the field 56 minutes, scoring a shot against the crossbar.

The developments in France are alarming, and soon new details will emerge from this grim affair that has cast an unsatisfactory shadow on the world's feathers.