Major League Soccer bans two former players for extensive gambling on matches

[acroman08]

I saw this yesterday. Major League Soccer has decided to ban Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah for life after finding out that the two players are involved in extensive gambling activity during their 2024 and 2025 seasons. It was also found out that the two players are betting on their own matches. The MLS also concluded that the two players had most likely shared inside information with other bettors.

Just as additional info, the two players were first put on administrative leave pending a league review for potential rules violations in October 2025 before being banned for life by the MLS after they concluded their investigation this month.

I am still baffled at players like this who risk their well paying career that they most likely worked hard to get just for gambling.

source: https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/soccer/major-league-soccer-bans-two-former-players-extensive-gambling-matches-rcna262549

[_act_]

I think the punishment is to ban the players. I mean players that did not listen but prefer to violate the rules of sport by betting on the sport that they are playing. Example is football olayers are not allowed to bet on football, just because of manipulation that can happen and which is good. There are risks for it and punishment but some players just prefer to ruin their career all because of greediness. They make enough money from being a player but they just prefer to ruin their career.

[xLays]

I saw this yesterday. Major League Soccer has decided to ban Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah for life after finding out that the two players are involved in extensive gambling activity during their 2024 and 2025 seasons. It was also found out that the two players are betting on their own matches. The MLS also concluded that the two players had most likely shared inside information with other bettors.

Just as additional info, the two players were first put on administrative leave pending a league review for potential rules violations in October 2025 before being banned for life by the MLS after they concluded their investigation this month.

I am still baffled at players like this who risk their well paying career that they most likely worked hard to get just for gambling.

source: https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/soccer/major-league-soccer-bans-two-former-players-extensive-gambling-matches-rcna262549

Maybe one reason is that they thought they could earn more money from gambling on their own matches compared to what they earn from their professional career. If they have inside information about the game, it might make gambling even more tempting for them.

But it is still surprising that they were willing to risk their entire career for that. Man lifetime ban is very serious punishment and it completely ruins their reputation in the sport. I also wonder what market or player props they were betting on. Sorry I didn't read the article.

[alegotardo]

I saw this yesterday. Major League Soccer has decided to ban Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah for life after finding out that the two players are involved in extensive gambling activity during their 2024 and 2025 seasons. It was also found out that the two players are betting on their own matches. The MLS also concluded that the two players had most likely shared inside information with other bettors.

Just as additional info, the two players were first put on administrative leave pending a league review for potential rules violations in October 2025 before being banned for life by the MLS after they concluded their investigation this month.

I am still baffled at players like this who risk their well paying career that they most likely worked hard to get just for gambling.

source: https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/soccer/major-league-soccer-bans-two-former-players-extensive-gambling-matches-rcna262549

Man, I think that unfortunately this is something that will hardly completely banned from the sports... you know why?
Because no matter how severe the punishment, there will always be those people who manage how to hide this type of crime.... there are many casinos  online that still accept bets without the KYC requirement, it is also easy to pass informations to a friend or relative and split winnings or even use their identity to play himself and only pay a "commission" for winnings.

Do not understand me wrong, I am not "teaching how to cheat", because these are things so obvious and easy to do that there are probably many people directly connected to these championships (not just players) who commit betting crimes in similar ways.

Anyway, it is sad to say, but unfortunately it is something difficult to combat.

[yahoo62278]

I think the punishment is to ban the players. I mean players that did not listen but prefer to violate the rules of sport by betting on the sport that they are playing. Example is football olayers are not allowed to bet on football, just because of manipulation that can happen and which is good. There are risks for it and punishment but some players just prefer to ruin their career all because of greediness. They make enough money from being a player but they just prefer to ruin their career.

Honestly they need to be really excessive as far as punishment for cheaters caught. Simply banning them doesn't take away the temptation, players can make a few million and get banned and be fine with that. Get creative and be like other cultures that are extreme with some punishments like cutting off an arm if caught stealing, maybe do the same for cheaters and make them scared to cheat.

[swogerino]

I saw this yesterday. Major League Soccer has decided to ban Derrick Jones and Yaw Yeboah for life after finding out that the two players are involved in extensive gambling activity during their 2024 and 2025 seasons. It was also found out that the two players are betting on their own matches. The MLS also concluded that the two players had most likely shared inside information with other bettors.

Just as additional info, the two players were first put on administrative leave pending a league review for potential rules violations in October 2025 before being banned for life by the MLS after they concluded their investigation this month.

I am still baffled at players like this who risk their well paying career that they most likely worked hard to get just for gambling.

source: https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/soccer/major-league-soccer-bans-two-former-players-extensive-gambling-matches-rcna262549

And I thought why are goals being scored that easily in MLS, maybe it is because of such people and maybe there are more of them that have not been caught yet. I think punishment for life to not play anymore is a bit harsh in my opinion but I think also necessary to stop these kind of things from happening again, in Europe for example that Tonali player from Milan and Newcastle got just 1 year of exclusion for the same story so most likely in Europe they are not as decisive with their punishments. I think they need to be more aggressive in punishing these type of errors.

[Don Pedro Dinero]

Maybe one reason is that they thought they could earn more money from gambling on their own matches compared to what they earn from their professional career. If they have inside information about the game, it might make gambling even more tempting for them.

I also think that is one reason. Maybe another one is the excitement the gambling-cheating provides. In the same way that there is a clear psychological component to gambling, adding the risk involved in the cheating adds excitement. But it's clear that now they must be feeling down and regretting it.

[crwth]

Seeing this kind of news feels like a case of gambling addiction of athletes. There are a lot of cases like this in major sports, and it is probably because they want to be entertained, get greedier, and possibly face peer pressure from their mates. There's no evidence we can see, but there might be something much deeper in here.

What I'm concerned about is the integrity of the actual sport overall. I hope they will be transparent in handling these types of things and that they will also be able to monitor this behavior.

[Don Pedro Dinero]

Seeing this kind of news feels like a case of gambling addiction of athletes. There are a lot of cases like this in major sports, and it is probably because they want to be entertained, get greedier, and possibly face peer pressure from their mates. There's no evidence we can see, but there might be something much deeper in here.

That's exactly what I was thinking about when I mentioned the added excitement of cheating in my previous comment. Doing something forbidden as an addition to gambling. Excitement is usually the basis of many addictions, including gambling.

[viljy]

Well, I'm not even surprised. This only confirms my point of view on sports betting once again. This industry is steeped in manipulation and insider trading. Moreover, at all levels, from the lowest to the highest. But all this is invisible and unprovable. Only isolated cases like this serve as a symptom. As for the characters themselves, who were caught red-handed (betting on their own match is like a pickpocket caught by the hand), the most striking thing about these athletes is their willingness to risk their successful careers and high fees to get more money. That is, these people are not starving, they are not dying of poverty, they are just blinded by greed. It's like a disease.

[crwth]

Seeing this kind of news feels like a case of gambling addiction of athletes. There are a lot of cases like this in major sports, and it is probably because they want to be entertained, get greedier, and possibly face peer pressure from their mates. There's no evidence we can see, but there might be something much deeper in here.

That's exactly what I was thinking about when I mentioned the added excitement of cheating in my previous comment. Doing something forbidden as an addition to gambling. Excitement is usually the basis of many addictions, including gambling.

It is possible that it is the I can get away with it feeling that makes people want to continue to do it more, and when they get that reward, they might just get tempted to do it more. Oh, the temptation that they have. Discipline is probably key to this.

[cryptoaddictchie]

I think the punishment is to ban the players. I mean players that did not listen but prefer to violate the rules of sport by betting on the sport that they are playing. Example is football olayers are not allowed to bet on football, just because of manipulation that can happen and which is good. There are risks for it and punishment but some players just prefer to ruin their career all because of greediness. They make enough money from being a player but they just prefer to ruin their career.

What if major sports betting firms prohibited too the participation of known players for different league like in soccer and basketballl would help in avoiding this kind of incident? But probably some got this kind of approach, since they discovered betting which clearly violated the terms implied they are aware of it. Does it mean they asked people (others) to bet in their stead and got discovered?

[Rruchi man]

I am still baffled at players like this who risk their well paying career that they most likely worked hard to get just for gambling.

Is it not the same situation here in the forum too, where plagiarism and use of AI in writing have been spoken against, with accounts even banned for it, but you will still find forum users being guilty?

As long as we have sports, there will be sportsmen who will feel they can beat the system and will still try to test the law.

They know the punishment for their actions; they should face it and be another fresh example to those that are doing it and have not yet been caught and to those considering starting.

[stadus]

I am still baffled at players like this who risk their well paying career that they most likely worked hard to get just for gambling.

source: https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/soccer/major-league-soccer-bans-two-former-players-extensive-gambling-matches-rcna262549

This is not the first time I’ve read news like this. There have been similar cases in other leagues as well, and the only reason I can think of is greed for money. Some players try to take advantage of their position because they know they can influence the game in some way.

The problem is they don’t realize their future is at stake. Maybe some are still doing it now and just haven’t been caught yet, but others eventually get exposed just like this case. And most of the time the regret only comes when it’s already too late.

[Wapfika]

I am still baffled at players like this who risk their well paying career that they most likely worked hard to get just for gambling.

source: https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/soccer/major-league-soccer-bans-two-former-players-extensive-gambling-matches-rcna262549

I’m surprised how these players was caught gambling while they can safely place bet with a use of 3rd party that can place bet for them instead of betting personally that result to jeopardize their player status.

It’s dumb and greedy at the same time to waste a career earning just for the sake of betting for additional profit.

They can just invest it if they seek profit or focus on their games to be entertained rather than place bet which is not allowed.

[rdbase]

Well, I'm not even surprised. This only confirms my point of view on sports betting once again. This industry is steeped in manipulation and insider trading. Moreover, at all levels, from the lowest to the highest. But all this is invisible and unprovable. Only isolated cases like this serve as a symptom. As for the characters themselves, who were caught red-handed (betting on their own match is like a pickpocket caught by the hand), the most striking thing about these athletes is their willingness to risk their successful careers and high fees to get more money. That is, these people are not starving, they are not dying of poverty, they are just blinded by greed. It's like a disease.

Exactly!
This is how fixed matches can happen when the players are involved into fixing those matches because they either placed bets on outcome of the match or have a group possibly organized crime telling them how the match needs to end.
Think some pitchers in the Major Baseball League got caught last year for betting on their games aswell.
It has happened countless times in the National Basketball Association too where even the referee's who are making the calls on the court had bets on certain outcomes of the games they were officiating.

[Hewlet]

I am still baffled at players like this who risk their well paying career that they most likely worked hard to get just for gambling.

There is no justification for someone that is earning the kind of money those in MLS are earning and at the same time will go on to gamble and not just gambling the ideal way but go about it in a manner that daunts his whole career by cheating through gambling. you sacrifice your entire football carrer for the sake of a short term gain that is not even up to what you earn by being an active player for a few years. these are part of the things that happens that you see players underperforming in games and you wonder what is wrong not knowing that it is a deliberate act from their end just because they have cheated already.
 

[Kelward]

I've heard it said somewhere that if you can't do the time don't do the crime, this is the case of these two athletes who should have known better, now they have been shamed and no longer have reputation in the MLS. I don't have a problem with the life ban that is handed to them because they knew the consequences of their action so when they were caught they should accept the outcome. League organizers must mantain trust that will uphold the reputation of their league and that is why they must treat any form of cheating with the full weight of the law, most especially if it concerns athletes and officials involvements.

[michellee]

One that maybe the reason is addiction. They maybe addicted to gambling and difficult to leave it. Actually, they can use other people's hand to place their bet. They risks their career and left them ban for life which will affect to their lives.

They should thinks that gambling is gambling and different from their career. They can leave good names from their career but they may leave bad names if they are addicted to gambling. They are greedy wanting to make more money from gambling and risks their own career.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

This kind of behavior did not start today with some players, I even guess that there are more player doing this but have not yet been discovered probably because they are lucky to cover their tracks. Last year, there was a case like this and even in 2024 we also read a similar case on this place, while there are also other close cases where the some officials are involved in rigging games or give out insider information to bettors.