Curling drama: Canada accused of cheating at Winter Olympics

Canadian curler Marc Kennedy has faced allegations of cheating from an opposing player on two occasions, leading to huge outburst.

Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson was on the receiving end of some strong words to say the least from Kennedy after accusing the 44-year-old of cheating.

The Swedish team suspected that Kennedy was repeatedly “double-touching” certain stones, letting go of the handle at the proper moment but then subtly nudging the stone with his finger to adjust its trajectory. Television footage seemed to confirm that he occasionally made contact with the stone.

In response, World Curling said it would assign additional officials for the rest of the Olympics to monitor for these types of rule violations, a notable shift for a sport that is usually governed by the players themselves.

After the accusation, Kennedy was left enraged and was later given a warning from officials for using foul language towards Eriksson.

When questioned about his outburst, Kennedy stood by his choice to defend himself but expressed regret over the manner in which he did it.

"I don't regret defending myself or my teammates in that moment," Kennedy said. "I just probably regret the language I used.

"I've played this game a really long time, and I can't think of once in my entire career where I've done something to gain a competitive advantage by cheating, and I take that very seriously. So when you get called out, my instinct was to be a little bit of a bulldog and come after Oskar for it. That's human nature for me."

Just when you thought that might have been the end of the drama, when the Canadians returned to the ice on Saturday to face Switzerland, controversy flared around Kennedy again, with the Swiss reporting him to the umpire for the exact same offence.

"I saw [Kennedy do it] when the referee was next to me," said Swiss lead Pablo Lachat-Couchepin.

"I really believe it does nothing, it doesn't change the stone  but when you have a referee looking at it, they should see it.

"I was a bit annoyed and said to the chief umpire if they send an email, they have to follow what it says. It's nothing against Marc but you have to follow the rule."

Each curling stone is equipped with a sensor to verify that players release the handle before crossing the thick green line on the ice, known as the hog line. If the stone is released correctly, the sensor lights up green; if not, it shows red.

In both matches, Kennedy’s stones registered green, indicating proper release. However, his opponents believed they saw the Canadian give the stone an extra push with his finger after letting go of the handle, and video footage from the game against Sweden appears to support that observation.

After a game, teams must sign a declaration confirming that they are satisfied with the outcome.

Following the first incident, World Curling stated that “decisions made during a game are final” and that video replays are not used to “re-umpire” calls.

They also clarified that players are not allowed to touch the stone’s granite. Once the concern was raised during the Sweden match, officials were stationed at the hog line to monitor all throws for three ends, in line with standard protocol.

No infractions were detected during this period, so no further action was taken.