The Winter Olympics curling competition has been rocked by accusations of cheating, leading to a rapid policy reversal by the sport's governing body, World Curling. The controversy began last week when Canada's Marc Kennedy was accused of double-touching his stones during a match against Sweden, prompting a heated exchange in which Kennedy told his opponent to 'f*** off'.
Further incidents followed, including Team GB having a stone removed for an alleged double touch. In response, World Curling initially ordered two umpires to actively monitor deliveries for release infringements from Saturday. However, after a meeting with unhappy National Olympic Committees on Sunday, the governing body reversed its decision.
World Curling announced on Sunday evening that umpires would now only monitor deliveries at the request of competing teams, for a minimum of three ends. The governing body had previously issued a statement clarifying the rules, stating that stones must be released before the hog line, with violations leading to immediate removal of the stone.
Players have expressed fury over the handling of the situation. Canadian captain Brad Jacobs called the initial changes 'despicable', saying, 'All of a sudden mid-week when you see umpires come out that are not trained to do what they're doing and are pulling rocks out of games as if they're burnt stones, that's a disaster.' Canada coach Paul Webster added, 'We're not at some bonspiel in Saskatchewan just trying things out, we're at the Olympics.'
