World Curling intervenes following Canada-Sweden controversy
World Curling has contacted every team competing at the Winter Olympics following the heated confrontation between Canada and Sweden during Friday evening’s men’s round robin fixture, reports BritPanorama.
The governing body circulated an email on Saturday morning outlining the regulations surrounding proper stone release after allegations emerged that Canadian player Marc Kennedy had been double-touching during deliveries.
In response to the situation, it was announced that two officials will now rotate among all four sheets to scrutinise player technique. The correspondence confirmed that umpires would monitoring deliveries across all remaining Olympic sessions.
The email stated: “For any remaining sessions of the Olympic Games, we will have umpires observing the delivery. Any violation of rule R5 (d) will be called and the stone will need removed from play with no further warning.”
The controversy erupted when Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson accused Kennedy of illegally touching stones during their 8-6 win over Canada. Kennedy’s response to the accusation was captured by broadcasters as he told his Swedish opponent to “f*** off” on the ice.
The 44-year-old subsequently received a verbal warning from World Curling regarding his language. The governing body stated: “During that meeting it was made clear to those officials that further inappropriate behavior, determined by rule R.19 would result in additional sanctions.” Kennedy later acknowledged he could have handled the situation differently, insisting he had done nothing wrong. He stated: “You can’t take it back. You learn from it and move on and try to get the focus back on the curling.”
World Curling clarified the precise regulations governing stone delivery at the hog line: players are permitted to touch the handle multiple times before their stone crosses the hog line at the delivery end, but any contact with the handle beyond that point constitutes a violation. Importantly, the organisation confirmed that when game umpires observed Kennedy’s deliveries for three ends during Friday’s match, no infractions were recorded.
Furthermore, World Curling noted that umpires at the sheet ends cannot physically monitor every delivery; hence the introduction of roving officials. Kennedy has firmly rejected any suggestion of wrongdoing, insisting his integrity has never been compromised throughout his lengthy career, stating: “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.”
He suggested that Sweden had arrived at the Games with a deliberate strategy to scrutinise opponents at the hog line, claiming his team were not the only ones targeted. Kennedy concluded: “It was planned right from the word go yesterday, from the words that were being said by their coaches and the way they were running to the officials.”
Canada’s tournament continued on Saturday with a 9-5 defeat to Switzerland, serving as a reminder that tensions run high in competitive sport and how quickly lines can blur during high-stakes encounters.
