MLS Issues Lifetime Bans Over Betting, Including Former Man City Academy Player

^{Pictured: Banned footballers Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah}

Major League Soccer (MLS), the top football league in the United States and Canada, has announced lifetime bans for two players for violating the league’s gambling rules. The sanctions apply to Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah, who, the league noted, were no longer under contract with MLS clubs at the time the decision was issued.

The investigation began after the league’s integrity monitoring partners detected suspicious betting activity. MLS enlisted the law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP to review the matter. Both players were provisionally suspended while the inquiry was underway.

Following the investigation, the league determined that during the 2024 and 2025 seasons the players placed bets on football matches, including games involving their own teams, which is strictly prohibited under MLS gambling policies.

In one incident, both players placed a bet that Derrick Jones would receive a yellow card in a match on Oct. 19, 2024. Jones was subsequently cautioned during the game.

MLS also concluded that the players may have shared confidential information with other bettors regarding the intention to receive a yellow card.

However, the investigation found no evidence that these actions affected the outcome of any match.

Yaw Yeboah previously played within the system of English club Manchester City, although he did not make a first-team appearance. In MLS, the Ghanaian winger played for the Columbus Crew and won the league title in 2023. Derrick Jones is an American midfielder who has represented several MLS clubs during his career, including the Philadelphia Union, Nashville SC and Chicago Fire.

Gambling Park notes that German discus throwers were recently given suspended bans for betting on their teammates.