Major League Soccer permanently ejects pair of athletes for wagering on matches within the league

Major League Soccer imposed lifetime bans on Ghana international Yaw Yeboah and former Columbus Crew player Derrick Jones on Monday, citing their involvement in "extensive gambling" as the reason for the drastic measure, according to the league's statement.

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The two players, who were teammates at Columbus Crew in 2024, are currently without a contract with any team, and had been on administrative leave since October while an investigation into suspicious betting activities was conducted.

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Following a thorough review of the investigation's findings, MLS determined that Yeboah and Jones had engaged in widespread gambling on soccer matches, including those featuring their own teams, during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

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A notable instance of their betting activities involved both players wagering on Jones receiving a yellow card during a match on October 19, 2024, which ultimately came to pass.

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MLS also found that the players likely shared confidential information about their intentions to draw yellow cards with other bettors, marking the latest betting-related scandal to affect a major North American sports league, following similar cases in the NBA and Major League Baseball.

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However, the league emphasized that no evidence was uncovered to suggest that these betting activities had any impact on the outcome of a match, with Commissioner Don Garber reaffirming the league's commitment to maintaining match integrity.

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Yaw Yeboah, 28, has played for Ghana on four occasions, with his most recent international cap coming in 2021, and has had a professional career that includes stints with Manchester City, as well as loan spells in France, Spain, and Belgium, before joining MLS in 2022.

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Yeboah signed with Chinese club Qingdao Hainiu in February, after failing to make a senior appearance for Manchester City, and has now been handed a lifetime ban by MLS.

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Derrick Jones, 29, was born in Ghana but has represented the United States at the under-23 level, and has played for several teams, including Philadelphia Union, Nashville SC, Houston Dynamo, and Charlotte FC, before joining Columbus Crew.