FA panel agrees that Crystal Palace goalie didn’t know he was mimicking a Nazi salute
An English Football Association panel ruled Tuesday that Crystal Palace goalie Wayne Hennessey will not be punished for using a hand gesture that strongly resembled a Nazi salute in a photograph because of his ignorance of Nazi history.
Hennessey had been under investigation for his conduct after he was photographed with his right arm and palm and fingers outstretched over his head while at dinner with his teammates in January. The photo, understandably, caused quite a stir.
It certainly *looks* like Wayne Hennessey doing a Hitler salute on Crystal Palace teammate Max Meyer's Instagram photo. pic.twitter.com/HdFXdxPnyc
— Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) January 6, 2019
Hennessey had contended that the similarities between what he was doing in the photo and the Nazi salute were coincidental and that he’d never do the gesture. He said he was shouting and waving at the person who took the photo.
‘A very considerable ... degree of ignorance’
The panel apparently agreed with the coincidence angle, saying Hennessey wouldn’t face any disciplinary action because of a “lamentable degree of ignorance" about the Nazis.
“Improbable as that may seem to those of us of an older generation, we do not reject that assertion as untrue,” noted the panel. “In fact, when cross-examined about this, Mr Hennessey displayed a very considerable – one might even say lamentable – degree of ignorance about anything to do with Hitler, fascism and the Nazi regime.
“Regrettable though it may be that anyone should be unaware of so important a part of our own and world history, we do not feel we should therefore find he was not telling the truth about this. All we would say (at the risk of sounding patronising) is that Mr Hennessey would be well advised to familiarise himself with events which continue to have great significance to those who live in a free country.”
The FA panel’s ruling comes after Crystal Palace’s own investigation. The team’s conclusion lined up with Hennessey’s explanation of the events of the evening. Palace manager Roy Hodgson and multiple teammates, including star winger Wilfried Zaha, made statements of support for Hennessey’s character. Other pictures from various angles taken during the dinner were also presented as evidence.
The panel ruled 2-1 in favor of not disciplining Hennessey. The dissenter, per the Guardian, said the salute was the “only plausible explanation” for his pose.
Hennessey has played in 18 Premier League games in 2018-19. His last league start came on March 2 against Burnley. He made three saves in Crystal Palace’s 3-1 victory.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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