MLS Wants Yellow Card Betting Outlawed As it Bans Two Players

Two MLS players are the latest professional athletes accused of betting on games including their own.

MLS announced lifetime suspensions on Monday for Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah, two players who have been on administrative league since October. The league said it hired a law firm to run an investigation after “receiving suspicious betting alerts through integrity partners,” and found that the players had “engaged in extensive gambling on soccer, including on their own teams.”

Jones, 29, bounced around several MLS franchises throughout his career, most recently with the Columbus Crew, and saw action in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. He represented Ghana and the U.S. at the junior level.

Yeboah, 28, also played for Columbus in 2024, and most recently was with LAFC. He saw action in the Club World Cup last summer, as well as the CONCACAF Champions Cup. He has played for Ghana’s men’s national team, but was not expected to suit up for the World Cup this summer. He is now playing for Qingdao Hainiu in China.

Jones and Yeboah were both on the Crew roster in 2024, the same year Columbus won the MLS Leagues Cup. The Crew said in a statement that it fully cooperated with the league on the investigation. “We fully condemn all actions and notions that aren’t aligned with these critical values for our Club and any individual’s activity contradicting the principles of fair competition that are pivotal to our team, league and sport,” the Crew said.

The league said it found “no evidence” that suggested their betting impacted the outcome of a match, however, MLS also said that Jones drew a yellow card in an Oct. 2024 match in which both players had bet he would do so. The league said it found the players “likely shared confidential information with other bettors about their intent to draw yellow cards.”

MLS has been trying to remove wagers on red and yellow cards from betting platforms. The league has successfully lobbied to remove the option from more than a dozen regional jurisdictions, according to The Athletic.

“Major League Soccer remains steadfast in its commitment to match integrity,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a statement. “The League will continue to enforce its policies, enhance education efforts, and advocate for the elimination of yellow card wagering in all states to protect the integrity of our competition for clubs, players, and fans.”

Attempts to reach representation for both players were not returned. Spokespeople for MLS and the Ghanaian national team did not respond to questions.

NBA players accused of similar behavior—Jontay Porter and Terry Rozier—were charged with crimes. It’s unclear whether Jones and Yeboah will face similar legal repercussions.