Shawn Lemon has actually ended up being the 3rd expert athlete betting a Canadian group to be suspended for breaking sports wagering guidelines.
Wednesday (24 April), the Canadian Football League (CFL) revealed that it is suspending Lemon– who used 3 Gray Cup winning groups throughout his profession– forever.
Lemon, a South Carolina native, suddenly revealed his retirement 10 April, which would accompany the time throughout which the league was performing its query.
The CFL suspension comes a week after the NBA prohibited Toronto Raptor Jontay Porter for sharing secret information and banking on the league. The Ottawa Senators’ Shane Pinto was likewise suspended for 41 video games for breaching league wagering guidelines.
According to a CFL news releasethe league discovered “clear and undeniable proof” that Lemon broke league policy, it states there is no indicator of match repairing.
Stability of the video game ‘of the utmost significance’
The CFL found that Lemon bank on league video games, consisting of one that he played in, in 2021. Lemon, a protective lineman, bet the Calgary Stampedes at the time. Single-event sports wagering was ended up being legal, however not reside in Canada, in August 2021. The very first and just province to go live up until now is Ontario on 4 April 2022.
“The stability of our video game is of the utmost significance,” CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie stated in a declaration, according to TSN. “Any other aspects– profession efficiency, actions in the neighborhood, timing, frequency or size of wagers– hold no weight when the authenticity of the CFL can be cast doubt on.
“It is our obligation as a league to examine and deal with such problems, and it is our cumulative responsibility, together with our groups and gamers, to make sure that sports betting in no chance affects the quality nor standing of the CFL.”
Betting wasn’t legal in Canada when Lemon bet
Lemon bet 8 CFL groups throughout his profession, and was an all-star in 2022. He played college football at Akron, where he was a Mid-American All-Conference choice as a senior.
Lemon bet the Montreal Alouettes last season. The group beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to win the Grey Cup. Lemon likewise won Grey Cups with Toronto Argonauts (2017) and Calgary Stampeders (2014 ).
The CFL did not show on what platform that Lemon bet, or where he was when he put the bets. At the time that Lemon bet, single-event betting was legal in Canada– however was not readily available on the legal market anywhere. There were grey-market operators providing sports wagering at that time.
The suspension is the very first for the CFL, however marks the 11th North American expert football gamer prohibited because sports wagering ended up being a states’ rights problem in the United States in 2018 and legal in Canada in 2021. Last summer season, the NFL suspended 10 gamers for wagering, and in the recently has actually restored 6 of those gamers, consisting of the Philadelphia Eagles’ Isaiah Rodgers
The NFL Draft starts tonight (25 April) in Detroit. The CFL Draft will occur on 30 April.