The Olympic curling committee issued a warning after a heated fight filled with cheating allegations and audible curse words overshadowed a feisty match between Sweden and Canada.
Canada’s Marc Kennedy got offended Friday evening when he was accused by Swedish rival Oskar Eriksson of “double touching” — essentially, touching the rock again after initially releasing it down the sheet of ice — during Canada’s 8-6 win in round-robin play late Friday.
Kennedy repeatedly used expletives to deny he broke any rules. The match came to a brief standstill as fingers were pointed and Kennedy argued with members of the Swedish team across the ice.
The World Curling Committee said in a Saturday statement that they spoke with the Canadian officials to issue a verbal warning regarding the language used by a Canadian men’s player during the game. During the meeting, officials said they made it clear that inappropriate language would be met with additional sanctions.
The governing body added that starting from Saturday’s afternoon session – which sees both Canada and Sweden in action – two officials will move to observing deliveries across the four matches.
The 44-year-old Kennedy said after the altercation, “I don’t like being accused of cheating after 25 years on tour and four Olympic Games.”
“So,” he added, “I told him where to stick it. Because we’re the wrong team to do that to.”
Eriksson said he simply wanted everyone to “play by the same rules.”
“We want a game that is as sportsmanlike, honest and clean as possible,” he said, “so we call it out as soon as I see that the Canadian No. 2 is, in my eyes, there poking the stone.”
The rules state that a stone must be delivered using the handle that sits on top of the rock and that it must be released from the hand before it reaches the hog line. At the Olympics, that is the thick green line at each end.
Replays appeared to show Kennedy releasing the stone using the handle, then touching it again — this time on the granite, not the handle — with an outstretched finger as it approached the hog line, which isn’t allowed in the rules.
In the early ends of the match, Sweden notified the officials of their complaints. An official then remained at the hog line for three ends to monitor Canada’s curlers and no violations were recorded, World Curling confirmed in its statement on Saturday.
Curling does not use video replays to review game decisions.
“Decisions made during a game are final,” World Curling said.
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