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Canada has faced renewed allegations of cheating after a member of the Swiss men’s curling team raised concerns about double touching during their round-robin match on Saturday. The allegations came shortly after World Curling made adjustments to its officialdom following the initial claims against Canada’s Marc Kennedy.
Switzerland became the only unbeaten team in Milan Cortina after defeating Canada 9-5 in their fourth consecutive victory, but the victory did not come without controversy.
Canada’s 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 air talking to his coach during a break in the fifth end, where he mentioned witnessing a double touch.
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“I don’t want to focus too much on it, but he double-touched and the referee saw it,” he said, according to The Toronto Star. It was unclear whether those concerns were raised with officials.
The dispute even bled over to the women’s side on Saturday.
Canadian curler Rachel Homan had her rock removed after an official ruled she had touched it again after letting go of the handle. Homan protested, but according to World Curling rules, there are no official replays and the official’s final call stands.
According to The Athletic, video replay of the incident showed Homan’s finger grazing the rock.
Canada’s Rachel Homan looks on 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 released a statement addressing the allegations first made by Sweden on Friday and Kennedy’s subsequent reaction, which was captured on the live broadcast.
WORLD CURLING FINDS NO VIOLATION AFTER CHEATING ALLEGATIONS ROCK CANADA-SWEDEN CURLING MATCH
“Game umpires are positioned at the end of each sheet and cannot physically see all delivery infringements. However, when delivery problems are brought to their attention, match umpires are positioned to observe the delivery at three ends. During this period of observation in the Friday night match, no infringements were recorded,” the statement began.
The sports governing body also addressed two rules issues, including “double touching” and touching the granite. According to the rules, players can retouch the handle multiple times, but “touching the handle after the pig line is not allowed and will result in the stone being removed from play.” Additionally, if the stone’s granite is touched at all during “forward movement”, the stone will be removed from play.
As a result of the allegations, World Curling said two officials will be positioned to observe all deliveries beginning with Saturday’s matches.
Canada’s Brad Jacobs and Marc Kennedy 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 allegations made by Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson at the time, saying: “Who does that? I haven’t done it once, you can f— off.”
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Canada was given a verbal warning about Kennedy’s language, for which he apologized on Saturday – but the apologies ended there.
“I probably could have handled myself better at the moment,” he told the CBC. “I know I’m a role model for Canadian curlers, so if I apologize at all, it’s to the young curlers around the country who would have expected more from me at that moment.”
Kennedy went on to say he was defending himself and his team when their integrity came under fire, and went on to accuse Sweden of being wrong, saying he believed they were “premeditated planning to try and trap us.”
“They’ve come up with a plan to catch teams in the act,” Kennedy said.
