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Canada faced new accusations of cheating after a member of the Swiss men’s curling team raised concerns about double contact during Saturday’s round-robin match. The allegations came shortly after World Curling made adjustments to its officiating following initial complaints against Canadian Marc Kennedy.
Switzerland became the only undefeated team at Milan Cortina after beating Canada 9-5 in their fourth straight victory, but the victory was not without controversy.
Canada’s Ben Hebert, Brett Gallant and Marc Kennedy compete in a men’s curling round robin match against Switzerland at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The event took place in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, February 14, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Swiss curler Pablo Lachat-Couchepin was filmed on the show talking to his coach during a break in the fifth end during which he mentioned witnessing double hits.
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“I don’t want to focus too much on it, but he hit it twice and the ref saw it,” he said, according to the Toronto Star. It is unclear whether these concerns were raised with officials.
The controversy even bled over to the women’s side on Saturday.
Canadian curler Rachel Homan had her stone removed after an official ruled she hit it again after releasing the handle. Homan protested, but under World Curling rules, there are no official replays and the official’s final decision stands.
According to The Athletic, video replay of the incident showed Homan’s finger brushing the rock.
Rachel Homan of Canada attends the women’s curling round robin session against Italy at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The event took place in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy on February 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Chbaïr)
The new accusations came after World Curling released a statement addressing the claims first made by Sweden on Friday and Kennedy’s subsequent reaction, which was captured during the live broadcast.
WORLD CURLING FINDS NO VIOLATIONS AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF CHEATING ROCK CANADA-SWEDEN CURLING MATCH
“The game umpires are located at the end of each lane and cannot physically see each delivery infraction. However, when notified of delivery issues, the game umpires are positioned to observe the delivery for three ends. During this observation period of the Friday night game, no infractions were recorded,” the release begins.
The sport’s governing body also addressed two rules issues, including “double contact” and granite contact. According to the rules, players can touch the handle multiple times, but “touching the handle past the hog line is not permitted and will result in the stone being removed from play.” Additionally, the stone will be removed from play if the stone’s granite is hit during “forward movement”.
Following the allegations, World Curling said two officials will be placed to observe all deliveries starting in Saturday’s matches.
Brad Jacobs and Marc Kennedy of Canada in action during the men’s curling preliminary round against Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The event took place in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy on February 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Kennedy vehemently denied accusations made by Swede Oskar Eriksson at the time, saying: “Who does that? I haven’t done it once, you can fuck off.”
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Canada received a verbal warning for Kennedy’s language, for which it apologized on Saturday – but its apologies stopped there.
“I probably could have behaved better at the time,” he told CBC. “I know I’m a role model for Canadian curlers, so if I apologize, it’s to young curlers across the country who would have expected more from me at that time.”
Kennedy added that he was defending himself and his team when their integrity was criticized, and later accused Sweden of being in the wrong, saying he believed they “had premeditated planning to try to catch us.”
“They came up with a plan to catch the teams in the act,” Kennedy said.
