A huge argument erupted during Canada’s Winter Olympic curling match against Sweden, after the latter accused their opponents of cheating during the match. And new footage of the incident has emerged on social media.
The Canadian team were hoping to maintain their undefeated record at Milano Cortina against a Swedish team who had struggled in their opening two games of the round robin stage. And Brad Jacobs’ rink were relatively untroubled by their European counterparts, picking up an 8-6 win on Friday to maintain their status as the number one team thus far.
However, the tie between the two countries became particularly tense at one point, due to Sweden accusing the Canadian third, Marc Kennedy, of cheating. They alleged that their opponent was touching his rock with his pushing hand after releasing the handle at the hog line, the point where curlers must release the stone.
Footage from the Games showed Swedish skip, Niklas Edin, conferring with his team during a break, before he then turned his attention to the officials who were just behind him. Asking them whether that disqualifies their attempt, he said: “If he does it again, is it a burned rock?”
Later asking if he could make contact with the stone at any point, teammate Oskar Eriksson then became involved, stating: “You’re not touching the handle, you’re touching the granite. There’s no way you can do that.” And even Canada’s Ben Hebert became involved, accusing Eriksson of touching the stones twice too.
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However, as the game went on, the tension did not dissipate. In fact, during the ninth and tenth ends, accusations from the Swedish team continued to be made, leading to an especially angry confrontation between Eriksson and Kennedy, with the former insinuating his team were touching the stone after releasing them at the hog line.
Asking the Swede who was doing it, Kennedy then angrily retorted, stating: “I haven’t done it once. You can f*** off.” To which Eriksson said: “I’ll show you a video after the game. I’ll show you a video where it’s two metres over the hog line.”
Footage of the incident in question has since emerged on social media, with it appearing to show Kennedy’s finger making contact with the stone as it travels beyond the line. According to the rule book, a moving stone that is touched by the team it belongs to should be removed from play. But a double touch by the individual delivering the stone prior to the hog line is not considered a violation.
World Curling has also introduced electronic handles to stones at the Games, which flash red if players are still making contact beyond the line. Each one is fitted with a touch sensor, which is linked to a magnetic strip embedded in the ice.
Check Out the Argument and the Footage Below:
Speaking after the match between the two sides, Kennedy went on to express his shock about the accusations. Per the National Post, he said: “I have a ton of respect for Oskar Eriksson. He’s one of the best players to ever play.
“I just told him … I would never accuse you of cheating. I’ve been on tour for 25 years. He pulled a hog line official on us to make sure we weren’t double-touching. The hog line official was there for six ends, never said a thing, and he’s still talking about it in the ninth end.”
Kennedy went on to add: “I don’t like being accused of cheating, so I told him what I thought of it. It’s good for sport guys, it gets heated out there, it’s a battle, we’ve played each other a million times.”
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