Major League Soccer on Monday handed life bans to two players for soccer gambling, including gambling on their own games.
Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah were both placed on administrative leave in October pending review of possible violations of league rules.
MLS announced that an investigation concluded that the players “engaged in widespread betting on soccer, including on their own teams, during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.” The league cited an example in which players bet Jones would receive a yellow card in a 2024 game and he did just that. Both players were with the Columbus Crew at the time.
“Major League Soccer remains steadfast in its commitment to the integrity of the game,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. “The league will continue to enforce its policies, increase educational efforts and advocate for the end of yellow card gambling in all states to protect the competitive integrity of our clubs, players and fans.”
Jones was playing for the Crew when he was placed on leave. Yeboah, a former teammate of Jones’ in Columbus, played for LAFC last season and is currently playing for Qingdao Haiyu in China.
MLS was alerted to the suspicious gambling through Integrity Partners and subsequently hired a law firm to investigate. The crew cooperated with the investigation.
“The Columbus Crew is proud of the reputation it has established in global soccer, rooted in respect and integrity in MLS and throughout the organization,” the team said. “We completely condemn all actions and concepts that are inconsistent with these important values for our club and for the activities of individuals that violate the principles of fair competition that are so important to our teams, leagues and sports.”
Jones, 29, played for the Philadelphia Union for four seasons starting in 2016. He then joined the Crew for the 2024 season after stints in Nashville, Houston and Charlotte.
Yeboah, 28, played three seasons with the Crew from 2022-24.
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