Major League Soccer has banned Ghanaian Yaw Yeboah and American Derick Jones for life due to violations of the league's betting policy, following an extensive investigation that began after alerts regarding suspicious betting activities. The players were previously placed on administrative leave in October 2025 pending the conclusion of the investigation.
The investigation concluded that the duo engaged in extensive betting on football matches during the 2024 and 2025 seasons, including matches they participated in or that involved their teams.
Yeboah and Jones were teammates at Columbus Crew during the 2024 season, before Yeboah moved to Los Angeles FC in 2025, while Jones continued his career with Columbus.
In a notable incident, the players bet during the match between Columbus Crew and New York Red Bulls on October 19, 2024, that Jones would receive a yellow card, which indeed happened during the match.
The league association concluded that the players may have shared confidential information with other bettors regarding their intention to receive yellow cards.
MLS has confirmed that it found no evidence suggesting that betting activities influenced the outcome of any match. However, the nature of the violations led the league to impose the maximum possible penalty, which is a lifetime ban from participating in its competitions.
It is noted that Yeboa is no longer linked to Major League Soccer, while Jones was also out of his clubs' considerations at the time the sanction was issued.
