One day, hopefully, professional athletes will learn they cannot post anything and everything they want on social media. The latest example of a player not thinking about the ramifications of his social media posting is Wandrille Lefevre of the MLS franchise Montreal Impact. Lefevre was suspended by the team one day after he had posted a picture with a gun referencing President Donald Trump.
“Due to an unacceptable social media post of concern to the club, the Montreal Impact has suspended defender Wandrille Lefevre pending further consideration of this matter,” a statement from the Impact said.
How long the suspension will last is unknown, although it may not be a lengthy one. (Update: It is a controversial one, though, as suspensions are supposed to come from MLS rather than individual teams. The MLS players’ union is protesting.)
Regardless, this can be filed under the category of suspensions that are entirely preventable. Once again, social media does more harm than good in this case. There is nothing wrong with athletes sharing their personal experiences and opinions on social media, and that is one of the perks of the outlets. However, there is such a thing as being smart and dumb with social media. In this case, Lefevre was dumb.
Because pro athletes can not seem to grasp what they can and cannot do on social media, here is a quick primer;
– Don’t talk about politics
– Don’t talk about guns
– Don’t talk about guns and politics
– If you think “will this be a problem?” at any point in your posting process, the answer is probably “yes.”
[CBC]
What happened to him is wrong… he merely exercised his right to express his views… an article like this perpetuates limited freedom of speech and expression. Although, I am glad to learn the union is protesting.