Major League Soccer has announced lifetime bans for two players, Yaw Yeboah and Derrick Jones, after an investigation uncovered widespread involvement in gambling activities, including bets on matches involving their own teams.
In one case, the players reportedly won a wager predicting that Jones would receive a yellow card during a game.
The league revealed that it was alerted to the situation after receiving suspicious betting notifications. A law firm was then hired to conduct an independent investigation. During the probe, both players were placed on administrative leave in October 2025 while the review was ongoing.
Findings from the investigation showed that Yeboah and Jones placed numerous bets on soccer matches throughout the 2024 and 2025 seasons, some of which involved teams they were playing for.
According to the league, one notable incident occurred during a match on October 19, 2024, when both players bet that Jones would receive a yellow card — a prediction that ultimately came true.
The two footballers were teammates at Columbus Crew during the 2024 season. Jones remained with the club in 2025, while Yeboah later joined Los Angeles FC, making 17 appearances that year. His contract with LAFC was terminated by mutual agreement in January, and he has since moved to play in China.
Jones, 28, was born in Ghana but moved to the United States during his teenage years. He developed through the youth system of Philadelphia Union and went on to play for clubs including Nashville SC, Houston Dynamo, and Charlotte FC before joining Columbus. Over the course of his career, he has made 131 league appearances.
Yeboah, also 28, came through the renowned Right to Dream Academy and was born in Accra. He signed with Manchester City in 2014 and spent several seasons on loan at different clubs before moving permanently to Wisła Kraków.
He later joined Columbus ahead of the 2022 season, where he developed into one of the league’s standout left wing-backs and helped the team win the MLS Cup in 2023.