Ivory Coast striker Elye Wahi, who is under investigation for alleged betting-related offences, has not been authorized to travel to Canada for his team's next World Cup match against Germany, the Ivorian soccer federation said on Thursday.
Ivory Coast faces Germany on Saturday in Toronto.
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Ivory Coast's Elye Wahi, right, reacts after missing a chance to score against Ecuador during a World Cup Group E soccer match in Philadelphia, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Ivory Coast's Elye Wahi, center, shoots against Ecuador goalkeeper Hernan Galindez during the World Cup Group E soccer match between Ivory Coast and Ecuador in Philadelphia, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Ecuador goalkeeper Hernan Galindez, right, makes a save against Ivory Coast's Elye Wahi (12) during the World Cup Group E soccer match between Ivory Coast and Ecuador in Philadelphia, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Ivory Coast's Elye Wahi (12) and Ecuador's Willian Pacho (6) jump to head the ball during the World Cup Group E soccer match between Ivory Coast and Ecuador in Philadelphia, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Ivory Coast's Elye Wahi, right, and teammate Nicolas Pepe react after missing a chance to score against Ecuador during a World Cup Group E soccer match in Philadelphia, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
The federation said Wahi, who is under investigation in France, will not be able to travel with the squad because “the necessary administrative authorizations for his entry into Canadian territory could not be obtained at this stage.”
Wahi started in attack for Ivory Coast when it beat Ecuador 1-0 in its opening game in Philadelphia on Monday. He will remain in the United States pending the team’s return, the federation said.
The French soccer league said on Wednesday that an “unusual amount of bets” were placed internationally on Wahi receiving a yellow card during a Ligue 1 game with Nice in May. The French league 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.
The French league (LFP) said it passed this information to relevant police and gambling authorities, as well as the French Football Federation.
Asked whether Wahi was questioned by police, the Marseille prosecutor's office told the Associated Press that “a 23-year-old professional football player, competing in France’s Ligue 1 championship, was arrested on May 29, 2026, as part of their investigation."
The office added “the investigation concerns alleged offenses of organized fraud, organized sports corruption, receiving stolen goods, and money laundering.” The player was questioned while in police custody and was released without being detained. The office added the investigation was ongoing.
Wahi’s representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Ivory Coast Football Federation (FIF) said it has not been officially notified “of any judicial or administrative proceedings” concerning Wahi.
“During this particularly delicate period, the FIF offers its full support to the player and reaffirms its confidence in him,” it said. “Elye Wahi remains an important member of the Ivory Coast national team.”
May 17 was the last round of the Ligue 1 season. Less than two weeks later, Wahi helped struggling Nice stay in Ligue 1 when he scored twice in a 4-1 win over Saint-Etienne in the second leg of their promotion-relegation playoff.
The 23-year-old Wahi had joined Nice on loan from German club Eintracht Frankfurt in January and scored nine goals in 18 games overall, helping Nice reach the French Cup final.
AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup
Ivory Coast's Elye Wahi, right, reacts after missing a chance to score against Ecuador during a World Cup Group E soccer match in Philadelphia, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Ivory Coast's Elye Wahi, center, shoots against Ecuador goalkeeper Hernan Galindez during the World Cup Group E soccer match between Ivory Coast and Ecuador in Philadelphia, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Ecuador goalkeeper Hernan Galindez, right, makes a save against Ivory Coast's Elye Wahi (12) during the World Cup Group E soccer match between Ivory Coast and Ecuador in Philadelphia, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Ivory Coast's Elye Wahi (12) and Ecuador's Willian Pacho (6) jump to head the ball during the World Cup Group E soccer match between Ivory Coast and Ecuador in Philadelphia, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Ivory Coast's Elye Wahi, right, and teammate Nicolas Pepe react after missing a chance to score against Ecuador during a World Cup Group E soccer match in Philadelphia, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
NEW YORK (AP) — New York is celebrating the Knicks in classic style Thursday, throwing a ticker-tape parade for the team that brought home the NBA championship longed for by generations of fans.
The Knicks' victory — after a 53-year drought - has electrified New Yorkers, and Mayor Zohran Mamdani has predicted that Thursday’s parade might be one of the biggest in the city's history.
The mere fact that it's happening is historic in itself. Although the Knicks won the championship twice in the 1970s, the city didn't host a parade for them either time. Then-Mayor John Lindsay had cut down on ticker-tape extravaganzas for financial and other reasons, and he instead honored the Knicks at a 1970 reception at the mayoral mansion and a jampacked 1973 ceremony outside City Hall.
This time, the city is going all out.
“There will be performances, there will be New Yorkers, there will be the team and there will be history,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Monday.
The parade is set to start at 10 a.m. Thursday near Battery Park and head up Broadway on the skyscraper-flanked route dubbed the "Canyon of Heroes.” The procession is to end at City Hall, where the players are to get another traditional tribute: keys to the city.
Knicks legends Walt “Clyde” Frazier — a member of the ’70s champion teams — and Patrick Ewing are expected to participate in the parade, according to a person familiar with the plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the details before they were publicly announced. The person said Mike Breen, the Knicks’ play-by-play announcer on MSG Network, was set to emcee the City Hall ceremony.
Alicia Keys, the singer who collaborated with Jay-Z on the New York-loving 2009 hit “Empire State of Mind,” has been tapped to perform.
“How could I not?” Keys said Wednesday in a social media video that featured her on the phone with Knicks forward OG Anunoby.
Police plan to deploy 10,000 officers to secure the event, which follows ebullient but sometimes chaotic street celebrations and some violence during the Knicks' run to victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
“We want people to enjoy this moment,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a planning meeting Wednesday, “but public safety comes first.”
Some 650 sanitation workers have been assigned to clean up what could be tens of thousands of pounds (kilograms) of debris, if recent history is any guide.
Ticker-tape parades derive their name from the narrow strips of paper used by telegraph-era “stock ticker” machines. New York brokerage firm workers took to tossing the paper out their office windows during parades in the late 19th century, adding a swirling aerial spectacle to the festivities.
Over the years, especially up to the mid-1960s, the city rolled out ticker-tape parades to honor visiting foreign leaders, mark historic anniversaries and hail feats in aviation, war, sports, music, space travel and more.
The Knicks' parade will be the 210th, and it comes after a ticker-tape bash for the WNBA's New York Liberty in 2024.
AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney contributed from Southampton, New York.
New York Knicks guard Jose Alvarado, left, celebrates with Mayor Zohran Mamdani during the New York Knicks' NBA championship parade Thursday, June 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Fans celebrate during the New York Knicks' NBA championship parade Thursday, June 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns celebrates during the New York Knicks' NBA championship parade Thursday, June 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Mayor Zohran Mamdani motions during the New York Knicks' NBA championship parade Thursday, June 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, center, watches during the New York Knicks' NBA championship parade Thursday, June 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Crowds fill the sidewalks during the NBA Champion New York Knicks ticker-tape parade on Broadway, in New York's "Canyon of Heroes," Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Jalen Brunson, upper right, of the NBA Champion New York Knicks carries the trophy for fans during the ticker-tape parade on Broadway, in New York's "Canyon of Heroes," Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns holds up the trophy during the New York Knicks' NBA championship parade Thursday, June 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Crowds fill the sidewalks waiting for the start of the NBA Champion New York Knicks taker-tape parade on Broadway, in New York's "Canyon of Heroes," Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Fans line up along the route before the New York Knicks' NBA championship parade Thursday, June 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
Fans line up along the route before the New York Knicks' NBA championship parade Thursday, June 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
A street sign reading "Champions Way" is posted along Broadway known as the "Canyon of Heroes", ahead of the New York Knicks' ticker-tape parade, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
A street sign reading "Champions Way" is posted along Broadway known as the "Canyon of Heroes", ahead of the New York Knicks' ticker-tape parade, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Banners hang above City Hall as preparations take place, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in New York, ahead of the New York Knicks' NBA championship ticker-tape parade. (AP Photo/Alyssa Goodman)
FILE - New York Mayor John Lindsay, right, congratulates Red Holzman, coach of the New York Knicks, after presenting the city's diamond jubilee medals to Holzman and other members of the Knicks team on the steps of City Hall on May 15, 1973. Shown with the mayor are Irving Felt, board chairman of Madison Square Garden, second from left, and Willis Reed, team captain, next to Lindsay. (AP Photo/Anthony Camerano, File)
The New York Knicks celebrate with the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy after defeating the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Saturday, June 13, 2026, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
