NEW YORK.- The North American Soccer League (MLS) announced this Monday lifetime suspensions for Ghanaian players Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah for participating in sports bets, some of them on their own games.
The case joins other recent scandals related to betting in North American leagues, such as the NBA.
Yeboah, international with Ghana 28 years old, he was champion with the Columbus Crew in 2023, while Jones, 29, who also has American nationality, has been playing in MLS since 2017.
MLS activated the investigation after “receiving suspicious betting alerts through integrity partners” and placed the players “on administrative leave until the completion of the review,” the league said.
At the end of the investigation, carried out by the firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP“MLS concluded that players engaged in extensive betting on soccer, including on their own teams, during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.”
The league, however, stated that “no evidence was identified to suggest that any of these betting activities affected the outcome of a game.”
“Intention to receive yellow cards”
As examples of the irregularities, MLS said that on one occasion both players bet that Jones would receive a yellow card during the October 19, 2024 match (against New York Red Bulls), which he did see.
“MLS also determined that the players likely shared confidential information with other bettors about their intention to receive yellow cards,” he said.
The league “remains firm in its commitment to the integrity of the games,” its commissioner said. Don Garberin the announcement of sanctions.
“The League will continue to enforce its policies, strengthen educational efforts and advocate for the elimination of yellow card betting in all states to protect the integrity of our competition for clubs, players and fans,” he added.
Scandals in other leagues
Jones and Yeboah, who coincided in the 2024 season with the Columbus Crew, are not currently part of any MLS team.
Trained in the Manchester CityYeboah had a brief stint in the French league with the Lille (2015-2016), before playing in Netherlands, Spain and Polandand then join the Columbus Crew in 2022.
Yeboah signed for the LAFC in 2025 before seeing his contract terminated in January.
Jones, for his part, played in Philadelphia, Nashville, Houston, Charlotte and then for the Columbus Crew, which he joined in 2024, the season following their championship title.
These types of cases are arising more frequently in sports leagues of USA since the recent legalization of sports betting in most states.
In November, two players from the Major Leagues baseball players were accused of having fixed games.
At the end of October, the coach Chauncey Billups and the player Terry Roziertwo prominent figures in the NBA, were implicated in cases of betting and illegal games.
In February, a former baseball player was convicted of obstruction of justice and lying to investigators in an illegal gambling case.
