IVORY COAST striker Elye Wahi can take on Germany on Saturday – after a major U-turn by Canadian authorities.
The striker, 23, looked set to be forced to miss the game in Toronto after he became the second player to be banned from entering Canada when his visa request was denied.
Elye Wahi has been given permission to travel to Canada Credit: Reuters
The striker was initially on course to miss Ivory Coast’s clash with Germany Credit: Reuters
Wahi, 23, is by French prosecutors looking into claims he was involved in a spot-fixing sting in Ligue 1.
That gave Canada’s border force the right to deny him access and the Ivory Coast FA said that Wahi would have to stay behind at the team’s base near Philadelphia when the squad fly to Canada on Friday.
It followed on from Ghana’s former Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey over Panama in Toronto because of the rape and sexual assault charges he faces in the UK.
But just hours after the Ivorian federation issued a statement confirming Wahi’s absence from the travelling squad because “the necessary administrative authorisations for his entry into Canadian territory could not be obtained”, it emerged that an agreement had been reached with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
And that means Wahi, who started the opening and struck the crossbar with a second half effort, has now been cleared to feature alongside ex-Arsenal man Nicolas Pepe against the Germans.
Wahi spent last season on loan with French side Nice from Eintracht Frankfurt.
But he is at the centre of an official police investigation over a yellow card picked up in Nice’s game with Metz on May 17.
Prosecutors in Marseille confirmed he had been arrested on May 29 to answer “allegations of organised fraud, organised sports corruption, handling of proceeds of crime and money laundering”.
That came after French bosses revealed they had been alerted to “an unusually high volume of bets placed on a warning involving the player Elye Wahi”.
In the original information, an Ivory Coast spokesman pointed out: “To date, the FIF has not been officially notified of any judicial or administrative proceedings involving Elye.
“He remains an important element of the national team.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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