Did Canada cheat in curling? Sweden–Canada curling controversy in Milano Cortina 2026 explained

A tense exchange over alleged cheating overshadowed Canada’s 8–6 victory over Sweden in a men’s curling match at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium on Friday, January 13, during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. The dispute erupted late in the game when Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson appeared to accuse Canada’s Marc Kennedy of double-touching curling stones beyond the hog line to gain an advantage. The heated on-ice confrontation, caught on camera, quickly turned profane.

“I haven’t done it once,” Kennedy said during the exchange. “You can f–k off.”

Eriksson responded by insisting he had evidence. “I’ll show you a video after the game,” he said. “I’ll show you a video where it’s two meters over the hog line.” “Come on, Oskar. Just f–k off,” Kennedy replied.



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What was Canada’s curling cheating allegation?

According to Reuters, Sweden believed Kennedy was making contact with the stone itself after crossing the hog line, which is the line on the ice where curlers must let go of the curling stone during delivery.

At the 2026 Winter Olympics, curling stones are equipped with electronic handles that trigger a red light if a stone is illegally released beyond the hog line. Eriksson thought that touching the stone instead of the handle would not activate the sensor, ‘which would not set off the red lights.’

Sweden’s response

“He asked who we thought was over the hog line and I pointed out who we thought was touching the rock,” Eriksson said, as quoted by Reuters. "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.”

“Because they thought double-touching any part of the rock is OK. And then they found out that was wrong. You can only touch the electronic part of the handle.”

Canada’s response

Kennedy rejected the accusations after the match, saying he took issue with being accused of cheating. “It’s good. It’s (a) sport. It’s the Olympics. Both teams are trying to win,” Kennedy said, according to Reuters. “Oskar was accusing us of cheating. I didn’t like it. I’ve been curling professionally for 25 years.”

He later added: “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.”

What World Curling said

In a statement to Reuters, World Curling said umpires were stationed at the hog line to closely monitor deliveries for three ends after the concern was raised. The governing body said there were “no hog line violations or retouches of the stone during the observation.”

What the Olympic rulebook says

Under Olympic curling rules penalty rules for burning a stone or obstructing play

If a moving stone is touched between the tee line and the hog line (delivering end) by the delivering team or their equipment, the stone is removed from play. A double-touch by the delivering player before the hog line at the delivering end is not considered a violation.

• If touched by the opposing team or external force:
  The delivered stone is replayed, or non-delivered stones are repositioned as reasonably determined.
• Inside the hog line (playing end):
  If the delivering team touches a moving stone, play continues, and the non-offending team may remove, leave, or reposition stones based on what they believe would have occurred without the infraction.

Both teams return to action on Saturday, February 14. Canada is scheduled to face Switzerland at 8:05 a.m. ET, while Sweden plays China at the same time.