Main League Soccer has issued lifetime bans to Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah for violating the league’s playing coverage.
MLS stated that after an investigation, the league “concluded that the gamers engaged in intensive playing on soccer, together with on their very own groups, through the 2024 and 2025 seasons.”
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The league , saying solely that they’d doubtlessly violated unspecified league guidelines.
Jones and Yeboah have been teammates on the Columbus Crew earlier than the latter joined LAFC forward of the 2025 season. Yeboah, 28, at present performs for Chinese language facet Qingdao Hainiu whereas Jones, 29, is with no membership.
MLS stated the league acquired suspicious betting alerts and retained the regulation agency Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP to conduct an investigation.
The investigation discovered that each Jones and Yeboah guess on Jones to obtain a yellow card in a match between the Columbus Crew and New York Purple Bulls on October 19, 2024. The midfielder did earn a yellow card through the recreation.
Derrick Jones (5) and midfielder Yaw Yeboah (14) work along with the Columbus Crew throughout preseason coaching on Feb. 5, 2024.
The league stated the gamers “seemingly shared confidential info with different bettors about their intent to attract yellow playing cards.”
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Jones’s yellow card will be seen .
MLS stated there was “no proof that was recognized that recommended any of those betting actions affected the end result of a match.”
“Main League Soccer stays steadfast in its dedication to match integrity,” MLS commissioner Don Garber stated in a press release.
“The league will proceed to implement its insurance policies, improve training efforts, and advocate for the elimination of yellow card wagering in all states to guard the integrity of our competitors for golf equipment, gamers and followers.”
After the suspensions have been introduced, the Crew launched a press release saying that the membership totally cooperated with the league’s investigation.
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“The Columbus Crew are pleased with the repute we’ve established in MLS and world soccer that’s rooted in respect and integrity all through our group,” the workforce stated. “We totally condemn all actions and notions that aren’t aligned with these essential values for our membership and any particular person’s exercise contradicting the rules of truthful competitors which can be pivotal to our workforce, league and sport.
“The Crew – who strictly adhere to all MLS insurance policies on educating and implementing sports activities playing laws with workforce personnel – totally cooperated with the league since first studying in regards to the inquiry relating to the gamers in query. Given the character of the investigation, the membership defers all touch upon its outcomes and self-discipline to the league.”