{"id":884,"date":"2025-07-16T20:08:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T20:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/884\/"},"modified":"2025-07-16T20:08:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T20:08:08","slug":"cfl-reinstates-defensive-lineman-shawn-lemon-after-gambling-suspension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/884\/","title":{"rendered":"CFL reinstates defensive lineman Shawn Lemon after gambling suspension"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Shawn Lemon’s suspension came two weeks following his retirement after helping the Montreal Alouettes defeat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 2023 Grey Cup.Justin Tang\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Shawn Lemon can resume his CFL career.<\/p>\n

The CFL reinstated the veteran defensive lineman with conditions Wednesday. Lemon, 36, was suspended indefinitely April 24, 2024 for wagering on league games in 2021 while a member of the Calgary Stampeders, including one game in which he played.<\/p>\n

Following an appeal, an independent arbitrator upheld the suspension.<\/p>\n

\u201cProtecting the integrity of the play on the field is of the utmost importance and we will not tolerate players violating the CFL\u2019s match manipulation policy,\u201d CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston said in a statement. \u201cMr. Lemon\u2019s suspension, which was the longest in league history, was necessary and appropriate.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has taken full responsibility for his actions. He understands how wagering negatively impacts sports and has re-educated himself on league policy. He is now committed to helping other players learn from his mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

CFL suspends recently retired Lemon indefinitely for betting on league games<\/a><\/p>\n

The reinstatement comes with specific conditions. Any future violations of the league\u2019s match manipulation policy will result in a lifetime ban.<\/p>\n

Lemon didn\u2019t immediately respond to an interview request Wednesday from The Canadian Press.<\/p>\n

Lemon, who\u2019s currently a free agent, is now eligible to sign with any team but won\u2019t be able to play immediately. Lemon must still serve a two-game suspension for violating the league\u2019s drug policy<\/a> following a positive test for the banned substance Phentermine, an appetite suppressant.<\/p>\n

Suspended players can\u2019t participate in regular-season or post-season games. It is at the club\u2019s discretion whether to allow players to participate in other team activities, such as training camp, pre-season games, practices or meetings.<\/p>\n

Lemon must complete all mandatory league education, including the CFL match manipulation policy and continue participating in counselling sessions he has been attending.<\/p>\n

How this former Montreal Alouette made the transition to financial advice<\/a><\/p>\n

The CFL\u2019s original suspension of Lemon came two weeks following his retirement after helping Montreal defeat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 28-24 in the \u201923 Grey Cup. Lemon initially signed a one-year deal with the Alouettes in December 2023 to play a 14th CFL campaign.<\/p>\n

The league said at the time no evidence indicated games were impacted by Lemon\u2019s wagering and that Stampeders coaches, teammates and team personnel were unaware of his actions.<\/p>\n

A week before the CFLs suspension of Lemon, Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors was banned for life from the NBA. An investigation determined he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, bet on league games and limited his time on the court \u2014 on at least one occasion \u2014 for betting purposes. Earlier, Ottawa Senators forward Shane Pinto was suspended for the first half of the 2023-24 NHL season \u2014 41 games \u2014 for violating the league\u2019s sports wagering rules. <\/p>\n

In June, Tucupita Marcano of the San Diego Padres was banned from baseball for life for betting on the sport. Oakland pitcher Michael Kelly and three minor-league players also received one-year suspensions for gambling-related violations.<\/p>\n

Lemon appealed his suspension in May, which allowed him to report to Montreal\u2019s training camp and play with the CFL team. He helped the Alouettes open the \u201924 season with four straight wins before another arbitrator ruled July 4 to reinstate the league\u2019s original indefinite suspension.<\/p>\n

Lemon\u2019s appeal was heard Aug. 2 and Aug. 5. He had continued to practise with the Alouettes but didn\u2019t play in any of their remaining 14 regular-season contests or their East Division final loss to Toronto.<\/p>\n

Lemon became a free agent this off-season.<\/p>\n

The six-foot-two, 242-pound Lemon is a three-time Grey champion. The native of Charleston, S.C., began his pro career with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as a practice-roster player in 2011 and has spent time with every CFL team, some on multiple occasions, except Hamilton.<\/p>\n

He won other Grey Cup wins were with Calgary (2014) and Toronto (2017).<\/p>\n

Lemon also spent time with the NFL\u2019s San Francisco 49ers and Pittsburgh Steelers as well as two Arena Football League teams and another in the Indoor Football League.<\/p>\n

Lemon has recorded 262 tackles, two special-teams tackles and 102 sacks over his CFL career. He also had three interceptions, 30 forced fumbles and returned a fumble recovery for a touchdown.<\/p>\n

He was a CFL all-star in 2022 when he had 14 sacks with Calgary and was the West Division\u2019s top defensive player that season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Shawn Lemon’s suspension came two weeks following his retirement after helping the Montreal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,521,875,522,520,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,82,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadian-news","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}