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Canada has faced fresh accusations of cheating after a member of the Swiss men’s curling team raised concerns about a double bunt during their round-robin match on Saturday. The accusations came shortly after World Curling made adjustments to arbitration following the first claims made against Canadian Marc Kennedy.
Switzerland became the only undefeated team in Milan Cortina after defeating Canada 9-5 for its fourth straight victory, but the victory was not without controversy.
Canadians Ben Hebert, Brett Gallant and Marc Kennedy compete during a men’s curling round robin match against Switzerland at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The event took place in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on February 14, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Swiss curler Pablo Lachat-Couchepin was caught on broadcast talking to his coach during a break in the fifth set in which he mentioned he witnessed a double touch.
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“I don’t want to focus too much on it, but he touched twice and the referee saw it,” he said, according to The Toronto Star. It was unclear if those concerns were raised with officials.
The controversy even reached the women’s side on Saturday.
Canadian curler Rachel Homan had her stone removed after an official ruled she had touched it again after releasing the handle. Homan protested, but under World Curling rules, there are no official replays and the referee’s final decision stands.
According to The Athletic, video replay of the incident showed Homan’s finger grazing the rock.
Canada’s Rachel Homan watches during 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 Shbair)
The new allegations came after World Curling issued a statement addressing the claims first made by Sweden on Friday and Kennedy’s subsequent reaction, which was captured on the live broadcast.
WORLD CURLING FINDS NO VIOLATIONS AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF CHEATING CANADA-SWEDEN CURLING ROCK MATCH
“The game officials are positioned at the bottom of each sheet and cannot physically see each delivery violation. However, when informed of delivery problems, the game officials are positioned to observe the delivery for three ends. During this observation period in Friday night’s game, no violations were recorded,” the statement began.
The sports governing body also addressed two concerns about the rules, including “double tap” and touching granite. According to the rules, players can touch the handle multiple times, but “touching the handle after the pig line is not allowed and will result in the stone being removed from the game.” Additionally, the stone will be removed from the game if the granite of the stone is touched during the “forward movement”.
As a result of the allegations, World Curling said two officials will be in place to observe all deliveries beginning with Saturday’s games.
Brad Jacobs and Marc Kennedy of Canada in action during the men’s curling round-robin session 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 the accusations made by Swede Oskar Eriksson at the time, saying: “Who’s doing it? I haven’t done it once, you can go to hell.”
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Canada received a verbal warning for Kennedy’s language, for which it apologized on Saturday, but the apology ended there.
“I probably could have handled myself better at that point,” he told CBC. “I know I’m a role model for Canadian curlers, so if I apologize, I owe it to the young curlers across the country who would have expected more from me at the time.”
Kennedy went on to say that he was defending himself and his team when his integrity was criticized, and further accused Sweden of being wrong, saying that he believed they “premeditated a plan to try to get us.”
“They’ve come up with a plan to catch the teams in the act,” Kennedy said.
