CFL’s Indefinite Suspension of Shawn Lemon Generates Controversy

Controversy surrounds the immediate future of Canadian Football League (CFL) player Shawn Lemon, with the 36-year-old currently on indefinite suspension after being found to have gambled on a pair of games almost three years ago.

The defensive lineman has had a glittering twelve-year career in Canadian gridiron football courtesy of stints with eight of the CFL’s nine franchises, including the Edmonton Eskimos, Saskatchewan Roughriders, and Toronto Argonauts. Now with the Montreal Alouettes, the American ran into trouble in April when it was discovered he had wagered on the outcome of two regular season games in Canada while with the Calgary Stampeders. 

Rigorous Reprimand 

The Commissioner for the CFL, Randy Ambrosie, stated an internal investigation had uncovered 'clear and irrefutable evidence’ Lemon staked approximately $80 on a pool bet involving a pair of November 2021 games, including one in which he had participated. The official explained the former University of Akron star was subsequently placed on indefinite suspension so as to protect the integrity and legitimacy of the second most popular professional sports league in Canada.

The Montreal Gazette revealed the CFL instigated this harsh penalty despite the fact Lemon had not bet against his own team and stood to win only $125. The newspaper moreover pointed out the veteran player’s infraction took place only a few months after Canada decriminalized wagering on individual sporting events while he had lost the opening game wager to render the Calgary Stampeders’ contest moot.

Review Request  

With Lemon about to miss his ninth regular season game this weekend, fellow Montreal Alouettes defensive lineman Derek Wiggan recently told the newspaper he believes his teammate’s indefinite suspension, which was upheld last month, has already gone on long enough. The 32-year-old Toronto native asserted Ambrosie should now reconsider or specify the exact length of the three-time Grey Cup champion’s punishment.

“I think he should be playing already,” Wiggan told the Montreal Gazette. “To jump through so many hoops just for this, a mistake from three years ago, seems quite extraordinary." 

"He hasn’t played since the end of June. Is it going to be the year? Shorter? Is the consequence going to be you’re in limbo forever?”

Devotee Dissent 

It seems many fans of the CFL agree with Wiggan in believing Lemon’s indeterminate suspension should be ended. @Tracy_YYC took to X, formerly Twitter, to declare ‘indefinate doesn’t even make sense to me’ while @Nikarax described the decision as ‘pretty hypocritical’ for an organization ‘that promotes gambling’. 

“It’s ridiculous as it was supposedly an $80 bet,” @Nikarax wrote. “Even if it’s a game you’re playing in, unless you’re betting on your team to lose, what impact can one player have on a bet to win? They play harder than usual?”

Approving Aficionados 

Conversely, there are those who believe Lemon should not be permitted to restart his career in the CFL, with @rgchernick taking to X so as to call for ‘zero tolerance for betting on games’. This fan was joined in his stance by @AlNickel1, who asserted the player ‘knew the rules’ as he is ‘a long-time veteran in the CFL.'

“But his sense of entitlement made him do it anyway, thinking there’d be no consequences,” @AlNickel1 wrote. “Now to his surprise he’s finding his career may be over as well as a trip to Canadian Football Hall of Fame in the future.” 

Competing Concerns  

However, there are also those who took to X to point a slightly suspicious finger at the CFL for its ready acceptance of advertising cash from sports betting operators. One of these, @SpaceBen, remarked, ‘Everywhere in the league you are advertising BET99 and other gambling sites so the league is losing the little integrity and respect it has.’ 

This user was joined by @BBBoris, who admitted on X to enjoying ‘the irony’ of a recent interview of Ambrosie by The Sports Network where the discussion of Lemon‘s indefinite suspension was joined by ‘the FanDuel logo continually scrolling by in the background’.