Olympic curling committee issues warning after Sweden accuses Canada of cheating in curse-filled fight

He Olympic The curling committee issued a warning after a heated fight filled with cheating accusations and audible profanity overshadowed a hard-fought match between Sweden and Canada.

Canada’s Marc Kennedy took offense Friday afternoon when he was accused by Swedish rival Oskar Eriksson of “double-tapping” — essentially, touching the rock again after initially dropping it on the ice sheet — during Canada’s 8-6 victory in round-robin play Friday night.

Kennedy repeatedly used profanity to deny that he had broken any rules. The game was briefly stopped when fingers were pointed and Kennedy argued with members of the Swedish team across the ice.

The World Curling Committee said in a statement Saturday that they spoke with Canadian officials to issue a verbal warning about language used by a Canadian player during play. During the meeting, officials said they made it clear that inappropriate language would result in additional sanctions.

The governing body added that starting with Saturday’s afternoon session, in which both Canada and Sweden will play, two referees will begin observing deliveries in all four matches.

Kennedy, 44, said after the altercation: “I don’t like being accused of cheating after 25 years of touring and four Olympic Games.”

“So,” he added, “I told him where to put it. Because we’re the wrong team to do that to him.”

Eriksson said he simply wanted everyone to “play by the same rules.”

“We want a game that is as sporting, honest and fair as possible,” he said, “so we announce it as soon as I see that the Canadian number 2 is, in my opinion, pushing the stone.”

The rules state that a rock must be delivered using the handle at the top of the rock and that it must be released from the hand before it reaches the pig’s line. In the Olympics, that’s 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 extended finger as he approached the hog line, which is not allowed in the rules.

At the beginning of the match, Sweden notified the referees of their complaints. An official then remained on the pig line for three finals to monitor Canada’s curlers and no violations were recorded, World Curling confirmed in its statement Saturday.

Curling does not use video replays to review game decisions.

“Decisions made during a game are final,” World Curling said.