Major League Soccer has decided to ban midfielder Derrick Jones and winger Yaw Yeboah for life over betting offences

Major League Soccer has decided to ban midfielder Derrick Jones and winger Yaw Yeboah for life over betting offences.

Yeboah, 28, signed for Chinese Super League club Qingdao Hainyu last month after terminating his contract with Los Angeles FC in January.

The Columbus Crew released Jones (29 years old) from his contract last November.

A statement from Major League Soccer said the players were found to have “engaged in extensive football gambling, including on their own teams” during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

Major League Soccer indicated that on one occasion both players bet on Jones receiving a yellow card – which then happened – in the Columbus Crew vs. New York Red Bulls match on October 19, 2024.

Jones and Yeboah were teammates with the Columbus Crew in the 2024 season.

The statement from the league added: “MLS has also determined that players may have shared confidential information with other bettors about their intention to receive yellow cards.”

“No evidence has been identified to suggest that any of these betting activities affected the outcome of the match.”

Yeboah, who played for Ghana, was at Manchester City from 2014 to 2018 but did not feature for the first team and spent loan spells at Lille, Twente and Oviedo.

He then played for Spanish club Numancia and Polish team Wisła Kraków before playing for Columbus Crew and Los Angeles FC.

Born in Ghana, Jones spent his entire career in the United States, where he played for Philadelphia Union, Nashville, Houston Dynamo, Charlotte FC and Columbus Crew.

Jones has been capped by the USA at Under-20 and Under-23 level.