Canada’s curling team accused of cheating by Sweden – and the Olympics drama has the internet hooked

Canada’s curling team was involved in an explosive clash with Sweden in the Winter Olympics on Friday, after Sweden alleged that their opponents were cheating.

Sweden claimed Canada’s curlers were touching the stone following release, asking officials to take a closer look. Later in the game, there was a heated exchange between the teams' thirds Marc Kennedy and Oskar Eriksson.

When Eriksson told Kennedy he could show him video of him touching the stone, Kennedy replied: “I haven’t done it once. You can f*** off.”

When asked about the fiery exchange, Kennedy said: "It's good. It's sport. It's the Olympics. Both teams are trying to win. Oskar was accusing us of cheating. I didn't like it. I've been curling professionally for 25 years."

World Curling has introduced electronic handles on the stones at these Games, which flash red if players are still making contact with the stone beyond the hog line - the point where curlers must let go during delivery.

However, Eriksson said he and his teammates believed Kennedy was double-touching the stone and not the handle containing the sensor, meaning the red lights did not flash.

"There's hog line devices on there. I don't know. And he's still accusing us of cheating. I didn't like it. So I told him where to stick it," Kennedy said.

"Because we're the wrong team to do that to. So I don't care."

Sweden went on to suffer a 8-6 defeat to Canada in the game.

Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images

"He might have been upset that he was losing," Kennedy added. "He might be upset that they're 0-2, grasping for straws. I just told him again. I said I have a ton of respect for him as a player. I've never said a bad word about Oskar Eriksson.

"I don't really know what he's trying to get out of it. And yeah, onward. But I'm not going to stand there and take cheating lightly."

Eriksson said he and his teammates believed Kennedy was double-touching the stone and not the handle containing the sensor, meaning the red lights did not flash.

"He asked who we thought was over the hog line and I pointed out who we thought was touching the rock," the Swede said.

"It was obviously not a red light, but some players are touching the rock according to us. And that's not allowed. We told the officials. They came out and they misread the rules, sadly.

In a statement, World Curling said umpires had been set at the hog line to monitor deliveries for three ends after the issue was first raised during the game.

"There were no hog line violations or retouches of the stone during the observation," the statement said.

The incident quickly became one of the most talked-about moments from the gamers so far, with people piling in on social media and giving their take.

One Canadian viewer wrote: "You were wrong to react this way. This is not Canadian. You should have let the rules speak louder than you."

Another jokingly wrote: "I'm so locked into this cheating scandal it's unreal that I can care this much about curling."

Additional reporting from Reuters

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