Major League Soccer has suspended Sporting Kansas City midfielder Felipe Hernandez for the remainder of the season without pay after he admitted to wagering on two league matches.
An MLS report found that Hernandez wagered online bets on two MLS matches, neither of which involved Sporting Kansas City. The league found no evidence that Hernandez possessed confidential or otherwise non-public information concerning those matches.
In early July, Hernandez told team officials that he was concerned about his personal safety due to gambling debts. This led to the MLS conducting an independent investigation with the support of law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.
The investigation found no evidence that Hernandez ever bet on an MLS match involving his own team and no evidence that the integrity of any MLS match was impacted by Hernandez’ sports betting.
No evidence was found of any other gambling by MLS players on MLS matches, the report said.
MLS is the third major U.S. professional sports league to deal with a sports wagering controversy since the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was struck down in May 2018.
The National Football League suspended Arizona Cardinals player Josh Shaw in Nov. 2019 for betting on games. Shaw was suspended for the 2020 NFL season and was reinstated in March 2021. He was not picked up by any team this past offseason.
Evander Kane of the National Hockey League’s San Jose Sharks faced accusations this summer of gambling on league games, but the league found no evidence to support those claims.
