New Curling Controversy: Canada Faces Accusations of Rule Violations Following Sweden Dispute at Winter Olympics
The Canadian men’s curling team finds itself once again facing accusations of cheating as their Winter Olympic experience begins controversially.
Their Friday match against Sweden escalated into a heated dispute after Oskar Eriksson of Sweden accused the Canadians of double-touching.
Double-touching refers to contacting the handle after the stone has been released and has crossed the hog line, the boundary for releasing the stone.
Players may touch the handle of a curling stone as often as they like before the hog line; any contact after crossing this line is considered a breach.
In contrast, touching the stone itself while it is moving is expressly forbidden at all times.
Marc Kennedy, the Canadian third, was specifically singled out by Eriksson for allegedly breaching this rule, which led to a heated response from Kennedy.
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He retorted: “I didn’t do it once, you can f*** off. I don’t care.”
Canada ultimately achieved an 8-6 victory, with no allegations of cheating substantiated against them.
While there was no formal sanction after the incident, Kennedy received a verbal warning for his offensive language.
Just a day later, new cheating allegations emerged during their match against Switzerland on Saturday evening.
During their round-robin match, Swiss curler Pablo Lachat-Couchepin reportedly informed a coach that he had seen the Canadians double-touching, and he was not the only observer.
The Toronto Star reported him stating: “I don’t want to dwell on it, but he double-touched, and the referee saw it.”
It’s unclear if Lachat-Couchepin communicated his concerns to the officials during the game.
Regardless, any infraction did not benefit Kennedy and his team, as the strong Swiss lineup secured a 9-5 victory, marking Canada’s first loss of the tournament.
The persistent double-touching controversy prompted World Curling to assign two officials to oversee the four curling sheets for deliveries during matches.
What are the double-touch curling rules?
World Curling clarified the double-touching rule on Saturday amidst increasing controversy.
The statement elaborated: “Game umpires are positioned at the end of each sheet and cannot observe all infractions. However, when notified of delivery issues, they can monitor the delivery for three ends. They found no violations during the Friday evening match while observing.
“Prior to reaching the hog line, players may contact the handle as needed. However, touching the handle after crossing the hog line is forbidden, resulting in the stone being removed from play as per Rule R.5 (e), which states: “A stone must be clearly released from the hand before it reaches the hog line at the delivery end. If the player fails to do this, the stone is immediately removed from play by the delivering team.”
“Touching the granite of the stone while in motion is not allowed and will result in the stone being removed from play.
“According to rule R.5 (d): ‘The curling stone must be delivered using the handle of the stone.’ A breach of this rule will lead to the stone being removed from play.
“It is challenging for World Curling to assign officials to observe all hog lines for every stone delivery. However, starting with the Saturday (February 14) afternoon session, two officials will circulate among the four sheets to monitor deliveries.”
Canada also issued a statement regarding their incident with Sweden, reaffirming their support for their players.
They stated: “During the match, officials were called to the field to closely observe potential release rule violations, including those regarding touching the granite after Team Sweden raised concerns.
“After three ends of thorough observation, officials found no hog line violations or stone retouches.”
“The Canadian men’s team received a verbal warning for inappropriate language used during the match, which we acknowledge and support. We emphasize that Curling Canada fully endorses fair play, respect, and sportsmanship, the core values of our sport.”
Kennedy further addressed the situation by apologizing for his remarks, although not for his underlying feelings.
He commented post-incident: “You can’t take it back. You learn and move on, trying to refocus on the game.
“But I’ll be honest: when my integrity has been questioned throughout my life, that’s normally my reaction.”
