Controversy erupted at the Winter Olympics on Friday night when Swedish curler Oskar Eriksson levelled a serious ‘cheating’ allegation against Marc Kennedy of Canada. Oskar Eriksson, the vice-captain of the Swedish team, had heated words with Canadian vice Kennedy after asking officials to monitor their opponents.

The situation occurred while the players were clearing the rocks after the ninth end at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium. With Canada leading, Eriksson accused Kennedy of ‘double-touching’ stones after releasing them at the hog line.

Canada and Sweden in curling at the Winter Olympics.

Marc Kennedy was accused by the Swedish team of ‘double touching’ the stones. Image: AAP/NBC

In curling, the players can’t touch the stone after releasing it. Videos circulating on social media appear to show Kennedy’s finger brush the stone after the release, but he vehemently denied the claim.

“I haven’t done it once,” Kennedy said angrily. “You can f*** off.” Eriksson asked his opponent: “You haven’t done it once?”

Kennedy shot back “I haven’t done it once”, before Eriksson said: “I’ll show you a video after the game.”

Kennedy hurled more expletives towards Eriksson as the back-and-forth continued. The Canadians went on to win 8-6 to improve to 3-0, while the defending champion Swedish side fell to 0-3.

“It was a little unusual,” Kennedy said afterwards. “They might be grasping for straws. It doesn’t matter anymore. But I don’t like our team being accused of cheating, so I told him what I thought of it.”

Canada skipper Brad Jacobs said: “I was a little surprised that they got so heated. I don’t think I’ve really ever seen that before. I mean, I’ve seen Oskar chirp in funny ways and whatnot and be playful. To have him be a little bit more serious was different.”

Eriksson told Swedish media afterwards: “We want a game that is as sportsmanlike, honest and clean as possible.”

Marc Kennedy in action in curling at the Winter Olympics.

Was Marc Kennedy’s finger brushing the stone after release? Image: NBC

Canadian curler denies ‘cheating’ accusation

Under strict curling rules, players have to release the stone before the ‘hog line’ on the ice. In some instances, the curlers can accidentally touch the handle a second time, or their hand may make contact with the rock. A light on the stone will usually flash red if the handle is not released before the line.

“I like Oskar, and he’s a great player, and I looked at him and I said, ‘I would never ever do to you what you did to us out there’. It’s sport, it happens. Think of what happens and gets said out on the ice in hockey games. It’s OK. It’s just a little bit of a heated game, and we defended ourselves.

“I’m not going to apologise for defending ourselves against a cheating accusation. It is what it is. So onward. It’s a good game. Big win. On to tomorrow.”

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Swedish skip Niklas Edin said: “We’re all super good friends out there. We’ve known them for 20 years. And [rule violations] happened many times before, so it’s just sad that it gets to heated discussions on the ice instead of just curling, according to the rulebooks, but it’s what it is.”

SOURCE: https://au.news.yahoo.com/cheating-claim-rocks-winter-olympics-as-athlete-denies-breaking-rules-after-accusation-011724747.html