MLS gives Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah lifetime bans for betting on own games | MLS
Major League Soccer announced Monday that it has banned Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah for life for “extensive” gambling, including matches involving their own teams. In one instance, the two men won a bet that Jones would receive a yellow card.
The MLS said it had received “suspicious betting alerts” and had retained a law firm to investigate. The players were placed on administrative leave in late October 2025 while the review took its course. Ultimately, the investigation revealed that both players had bet heavily on football throughout the 2024 and 2025 seasons, including on their own teams.
“In one instance,” the league said, “both players bet on Jones to draw a yellow card in a match on October 19, 2024, which he received.”
Yeboah and Jones overlapped for one season with the Columbus Crew in 2024. Jones remained with the Crew for the 2025 season, while Yeboah signed with Los Angeles FC, with whom he made 17 appearances in 2025. He mutually agreed to cancel his contract with LAFC in January and now plays in China.
Jones, 28, was born in Ghana but emigrated to the United States when he was a teenager. He came through the youth ranks of the Philadelphia Union and went on to play for Nashville SC, Houston Dynamo, Charlotte FC and most recently with Columbus. Jones made 131 league appearances during his career.
Yeboah, also 28, is a graduate of the Right to Dream academy and is from Accra, Ghana. He joined Manchester City in 2014 and was loaned out to several teams, eventually landing at Wisła Kraków before transferring to the Crew ahead of the 2022 season. With the Crew, Yeboah became one of the best left backs in the league, winning the MLS Cup with Columbus in 2023.
In 2021, MLS suspended Sporting Kansas City midfielder Felipe Hernàndez for betting on matches. He terminated his contract in 2024 after violating the league’s gaming policies a second time.
