Two players have been permanently banned from MLS after “extensive” gambling-related violations.
On Monday, MLS, the top level of soccer in the United States, announced that Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah were subject to the harshest punishment possible.
The league was notified of “suspicious gambling signals” and opened an investigation with the help of a law firm.
Both players, who had been teammates with the Columbus Crew for a season, were placed on administrative leave in October 2025 and, by the time the investigation was completed, neither was playing in MLS anymore.
In a statement, MLS concluded that the pair “participated in extensive gambling on soccer, including their teams’ games, during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.”
They added that the two had placed the same bet, that Jones would receive a yellow card in a 3-2 win over the New York Red Bulls, which subsequently happened.
Yaw Yeboah, who came through the Right to Dream academy and joined Manchester City in 2014, was set to move to MLS in 2022 after a series of loan spells and spells at Numancia and Wisla Krakow.
He played 91 games for the Crew, and after his contract was not renewed, Yeboah signed a two-year deal with Los Angeles in January 2025, playing 17 games.
The 28-year-old saw his contract terminated by mutual consent earlier this year and then joined Qingdao Hainiu in the Chinese Super League, who were penalised seven points at the start of the new season as part of a major investigation into match-fixing, gambling and corruption in Chinese football.
The ban does not appear to apply to football outside of MLS, as it is not a FIFA-imposed ban. Currently, Ghanaian international Yaw Yeboah is still eligible to play in the 2026 World Cup in North America.