Canada curling team fires back at Sweden’s cheating allegations at Olympics

The Canadian curling team has hit back at Sweden after the Swedes accused the Canadians of cheating at the world championships Winter Olympic Games.

After Sweden Canada accused From the double-touchdown stones on Friday, sparking global controversy, Canadian curler Mark Kennedy leveled allegations against the Swedes for inappropriately filming his delivery.

“They came up with a plan here at the Olympics, as far as I know, to catch teams acting on the pig line,” Kennedy told reporters.

“This was planned, right from the start of the game yesterday. From the words their coaches said and the way they were running to the officials, it was kind of obvious that something was going on, and they were trying to catch us in the act.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Sweden’s Rasmus Wrana, left, interacts next to Canada’s Ben Hebert during the men’s curling round between Canada and Sweden during the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Cortina Olympic Curling Arena in Cortina d’Ampezzo on February 13, 2026. (Tiziana Fabi/AFP)

“I know we’re not the only team they’ve done that to,” Kennedy added. “So, I think this was — I don’t know what the word is for it — but like a deliberate plan to try to catch us.”

Nolan Thiessen, CEO of Curling Canada, told reporters that he believes the video was filmed outside the strict rules of Olympic photography.

“I was surprised that there was live video on the hog line outside the OBS rules,” Thiessen said. “This seems strange to me.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Swedish curling team for comment.

According to National reviewTeam Sweden denied any inappropriate filming, claiming the video came from the Swedish public broadcaster.

Swede Niklas Edin said “not at all” when asked about Team Canada’s allegations.

“We’ve been saying this for seven or eight years or something,” he said of the hog line issue. “The media crew decided to put the camera on the pig line to see what was happening, and explain it to the people watching.

“We were told, at least, that it was the Swedish media, the people covering the match, who did it. I have no idea, but that’s what we were told afterwards.”

Olympic Broadcast Services (OBS) issued a statement saying it did not produce the video that appears to show Canadian soccer players double-touching the stones after it was released on a pig streak that circulated on social media.

“However, for general clarity, OBS as well as any properly accredited media rights holder who has obtained broadcast rights from the IOC are permitted to film inside Olympic venues,” OBS added.

The dispute reached a boiling point during Friday’s game when Kennedy Swede Oscar Eriksson got into the matter after Eriksson accused Kennedy of an illegal procedure called double touching.

Kennedy shouted at Erickson, “I never did that once. You can stop.”

Eriksson replied: “I’ll show you a video after the game. I’ll show you a video where there’s two meters above the pigs’ line.”

Both sides appealed to officials, but the results did not change.

Swiss made curlers Similar comments about Canada. Swiss footballer Pablo Lachat-Couchpin was filmed live talking to his coach during the fifth end break where he mentioned witnessing a double touchdown.

World Curling finds no violations after cheating allegations in curling match between Canada and Sweden

Canadians Ben Hebert, Brett Gallant and Mark Kennedy compete during a men’s curling match against Switzerland at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, February 14, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

He said: “I don’t want to focus too much on that, but he touched the ball twice, and the referee saw that.” Toronto Star. It was not clear whether these concerns were raised to officials.

The controversy even extended to the women’s side on Saturday.

Canadian curler Rachel Homan’s stone was removed after an official ruled she touched it again after releasing the handle. Homan protested, but according to World Curling rules, there are no official replays, and the official’s final call stands.

according to athlete, A video replay of the incident showed Homan’s finger grazing the rock.

World Curling has been released A statement addressing the allegations first made by Sweden on Friday and Kennedy’s subsequent reaction.

Click here to download the FOX NEWS app

Canadians Brad Jacobs and Mark Kennedy play during the men’s curling session against Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, February 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

“Play officials are placed at the end of each sheet and cannot physically see every delivery irregularity. However, when made aware of delivery issues, game officials are placed to monitor three-way deliveries. During this monitoring period in the Friday evening match, no violations were recorded,” the statement said.

The sport’s 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 beyond the pig line is not allowed and will result in the stone being removed from play.”

Additionally, the stone will be removed from play if the granite of the stone is touched at all during Forward Movement.

As a result of the allegations, World Curling said two officials would be in a position to monitor all deliveries starting with Saturday’s matches.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Follow Fox News Digital Sports coverage on Xand subscribe to Fox News Sports Huddle Newsletter.