Canadian curler Marc Kennedy has once again been accused of cheating at the Winter Olympics following Canada’s match on Saturday.
On Friday (February 13), 44-year-old curler Kennedy, who has previously won both gold and bronze medals at the Winter Olympics, became embroiled in a war of words with Swedish curler Oskar Eriksson in the closing stages of Canada’s 8–6 win over the Scandinavian nation.
Sweden claimed that Kennedy had double-touched the stone, while images from TV appeared to show that this was the case on several occasions.
The Swedish team then asked officials to closely monitor the match, with Canada also lodging a similar request.
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Players must release their grip on the handle before the thick green line on the ice – formerly the hog line.
The sport’s international governing body, World Curling, was forced to release a statement, having already introduced electronic handles that flash red if a player continues to make contact beyond the hog line during matches.
Kennedy’s throw did, in fact, show green rather than red, but his opponents didn’t share that view and suggested that he gave his throw an extra push with his finger.
The statement read: “Following the situations arising from the Sweden versus Canada game in men’s session four on Friday (13 February) evening, several issues require clarification.
"Game Umpires are situated at the end of each sheet and physically cannot see every delivery infraction. However, when they are made aware of delivery issues, game umpires are positioned to observe the delivery for three ends.
"During this period of observation in the Friday evening game, there were no violations recorded.”
The statement also stated that World Curling had issued a verbal warning regarding the use of inappropriate language during the game.
It was made clear that a further violation would result in additional sanctions in line with Rule R.19.
Rule R.19 states: “Improper conduct, foul or offensive language, equipment abuse, or wilful damage on the part of any team member is prohibited. Any violation may result in suspension of the offending person(s) by the curling organisation having jurisdiction.”
And just when the Canadian team thought the issue was resolved, they were once more accused of cheating, this time by Switzerland.
On Saturday (February 14), Canada returned to the ice and lost 9–5 against Switzerland.
Swiss lead Pablo Lachat-Couchepin claimed that he saw Kennedy touch the stone twice in a similar fashion to Friday’s event against Sweden.
"I saw [Kennedy do it] when the referee was next to me," he told BBC Sport.
"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 that if they send an email, they have to follow what it says. It's nothing against Marc, but you have to follow the rule."
Topics: Sweden, Switzerland, Olympics
Luke Davies