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Roy Hodgson has said Wayne Hennessey is ‘desperate’ to learn more about the history of Nazi Germany after the goalkeeper claimed he did not know anything about it in a hearing with the FA.
Hennessey was charged by the Football Association with making an offensive gesture after he was pictured with his right arm in the air and left hand above his mouth in a photograph posted on Max Meyer’s Instagram story.
The charge wasn’t proven as Hennessey showed what the FA called a “lamentable degree of ignorance” on the subject of Adolf Hitler, Nazism and fascism.
During his press conference ahead of Palace’s trip to the Emirates on Sunday, Hodgson pledged to work with Kick It Out and to take appropriate action.
“We and Kick It Out work very closely together and between us I think we will be looking for a solution in the case of this one individual, but I would guess this might be a subject which goes beyond one individual,” Hodgson said.
“We might be highlighting with Wayne [something] that is 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 is concerned because he is actually very desperate now to learn as much as he can.”
This is the world now. A Premier League goalkeeper apologises for making what appeared to be a Nazi salute in a photograph, then claims to know next to nothing about the history of Nazi Germany, before saying he is “desperate” to learn more about the subject matter.
