Crystal Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey is desperate to be educated on the subject of Nazism, according to manager Roy Hodgson.
The Wales international shot-stopper escaped punishment for an alleged ‘Nazi salute’ in an Instagram post recently. Hennessey had been charged by the FA after a post from teammate Max Meyer showed him with his right arm raised and his left arm placed across his mouth.
However, the FA found that the charge wasn’t proven earlier this month and dropped the case, with the written reason claiming that Hennessey had “a very considerable – one might even say lamentable – degree of ignorance about anything to do with Hitler, facsimile and the Nazi regime.”
And manager Hodgson has now come out and claimed that Hennessey is desperate to learn more about the subject, to improve his education on the matter.
Talking in a press conference on Friday, as reported by Goal, Hodgson said:
I don’t know how disappointed one should be [about Hennessey’s perceived ignorance].
It’s different to people of my generation who are much closer to it [the period of time]. I don’t quite know what the young generation is learning about it.
I think what is important in that report is that they made it perfectly clear they found Wayne a very honest and kind and good individual.
The fact he lacks education is where we as a club and Kick It Out [an equality and inclusion organisation], with whom we work very closely, have to take into consideration, because maybe it’s something we haven’t been so aware of.
Obviously we are talking about a period of history which maybe isn’t being dealt with in the education programme as it once was.
I would guess that this might be a subject which goes beyond one individual, we might be highlighting with Wayne that it’s actually rife throughout football.
I’ve no idea about the level of knowledge in relation to the Holocaust, the Second World War, in other clubs or even in our club. It’s now something we know may well exist and will have to be dealt with.
Together, the club and Kick It Out, we will sort it out, certainly where Wayne’s concerned because he is actually very desperate now to learn as much as he can.
