Former CFL All-Star Shawn Lemon, suspended in 2024 for placing a $100 parlay involving his then team, is cleared for a return to three-down football, albeit with some strings attached.
- The CFL conditionally reinstated former All-Star Shawn Lemon after suspending him in 2024 for placing a $100 parlay bet in 2021 involving his then team, the Calgary Stampeders.
- Lemon must serve a two-game drug policy suspension, complete mandatory education and counselling, and faces a lifetime ban for any future gambling violations.
- Although Lemon argued the gambling rules weren't clearly communicated during the COVID-clouded 2021 season, an independent arbitrator upheld the suspension, finding he likely understood the risks but underestimated the consequences.
The Canadian Football League announced on Wednesday that it has conditionally reinstated Lemon, a defensive lineman and multiple Grey Cup champion.
According to the league, Lemon is now eligible to sign with any team. However, any future violation of the CFL’s “Match Manipulation Policy” will trigger a lifetime ban, the CFL said, and the current free agent must first serve a two-game suspension for violating the league’s drug policy before playing again.
— CFL Communications (@CFL_PR) July 16, 2025
Lemon will also have to complete “all mandatory league education,” including studying its match-fixing policy, as well as continue attending counselling sessions.
“Mr. Lemon’s suspension, which was the longest in league history, was necessary and appropriate,” CFL Commissioner Stewart Johnston said in a press release. “He 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.”
Wednesday’s announcement seemingly puts to rest a gambling-related scandal for a league that has embraced legal sports betting.
Hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, the CFL successfully lobbied for the decriminalization of single-game sports wagering in Canada in 2021 and has since partnered with several sportsbook operators, such as ToonieBet.
Those ties made the Lemon suspension something of an awkward situation for the CFL, which is not the only professional sports league in North America that’s had to deal with its players violating gambling policies.
Lemon was indefinitely suspended on Apr. 24, 2024, for wagering on CFL games in 2021 while a member of the Calgary Stampeders. That wagering extended to one game in which Lemon played.
“His actions at the time violated a longstanding CFL policy,” the league added on Wednesday. “Following an appeal, an independent arbitrator upheld the suspension.”
More to the story
However, the arbitrator’s ruling, released last August, paints a more complicated picture.
For starters, it said Lemon placed a single bet in November 2021 on the outcome of two CFL games, one of which involved his Stampeders. The total cost of the bet was 73.46 euros, or around $100 in Canadian currency at the time, and Lemon had wagered on the Stampeders to cover the point spread. The payout for the parlay would have been around $170.
“Because his bet on the first game was unsuccessful, by the time the second game started he could no longer win the bet regardless of the outcome of the Stampeders game in which he was playing,” the arbitrator’s award added
Nevertheless, the CFL didn't learn about the parlay until Feb. 24, 2024, when the league was tipped off by the International Olympic Committee "as part of a wider review of sports betting," the ruling said. The IOC also alleged Lemon had made 26 bets on CFL games in 2021 and 2023 (when he was a free agent), but only one was made in 2021 while he was on a team.
“The parties agreed that the 2023 bets were not at issue; the Grievor was solely being disciplined for the single 2021 bet on two games while playing for the Calgary Stampeders,” the arbitrator’s ruling said.
'Less than ideal communication'
Lemon was sent a letter by the league in March 2024, and a hearing for the matter was initially scheduled for March 26, before being delayed until April 17.
On April 10, Lemon’s retirement was announced, but he then un-retired a few days later, leaving him open to the disciplinary process again. Following an investigation and Lemon admitting to the bet, he was suspended on Apr. 24, 2024.
A grievance was then filed on Lemon’s behalf by the CFL players’ union, which allowed him to practice and play in games. At the time, he was with the Montreal Alouettes. However, an adjournment in the arbitration process sought by Lemon’s lawyer (the CFLPA was no longer representing him) caused the suspension to take effect in early July 2024.
Lemon still sought immediate reinstatement and a fine instead of a suspension.
“In advancing this position, it was argued that the anti-gambling rules had not been properly communicated to the Grievor or other players in the 2021 season, noting that all focus was on preventing the spread of COVID,” the arbitrator’s decision said. “According to the Grievor, he did not know in 2021 that placing a bet violated CFL rules and when he was confronted in 2024 he readily admitted placing the bet.”
Ultimately, though, the grievance was denied by the arbitrator and the indefinite suspension remained in effect until this week.
“On balance, I am satisfied that it is more likely than not that the Grievor was aware he could get into trouble if his betting was discovered, but badly underestimated the consequences of discovery,” the arbitrator wrote last year. “The less than ideal communication of the gambling rules in 2021 does not lead to a conclusion that the indefinite suspension was unreasonable or injudicious.”
