World Curling backtracks on umpire plan after Olympic controversy

The great Olympic curling controversy continues to swirl at Milano Cortina 2026.

There were several developments on Sunday in the issue that stemmed from a Swedish accusation of Canada third Marc Kennedy ‘double-touching’ third rocks on release in a game on Friday. It resulted in a profanity-laced argument between Kennedy and Swedish third Oskar Eriksson during the ninth-end break.

World Curling announced Saturday it would have two umpires move between all four sheets to observe deliveries for the rest of the event, and also issued a verbal warning to Canada for language use.

But after two draws on Sunday, World Curling has decided to change its stance, again, on the umpiring front.

“This change in protocol will see the two umpires who had previously been actively monitoring athlete deliveries remain available in the field of play, but will now only monitor athlete deliveries at the request of the competing teams.

“The umpires when requested will monitor deliveries for a minimum of three ends.”

That decision was made after two stones in separate games were removed over the past 24 hours by officials.

First, Canadian women’s skip Rachel Homan had a stone removed for a double-touch violation in the first end of her game against Switzerland on Saturday.

Rule R.5 (d) of the rule book states: “The curling stone must be delivered using the handle of the stone.”

Homan was livid after the call and blasted officials after the extra-end loss.

On Sunday morning, Great Britain’s Bobby Lammie had his first stone removed in the ninth end in a game versus Germany. The Brits didn’t put up a fight, but Lammie appeared stunned and he made sure he let go well of his rock well before the hog line on his next shot.

Curling Canada, meanwhile, seems to be avoiding a potential fight over another part of the story.

After the Canadian and Swedish men’s teams traded verbal shots following the feisty Friday game, Canada’s men’s team coach Paul Webster added more fuel to the fire on Saturday when he told reporters there were Swedish staff and fans in position at the hog line to film releases. Sweden denied that accusation.

Curling Canada put out a statement on Sunday, saying it will not be “pursuing sanctions for potential illegal filming.

“We will concentrate on competing on the field of play and not the extracurriculars,” the statement, provided to Sportsnet, said. “Our focus is to protect and support our athletes, so they can compete to the best of their abilities for themselves, their teammates, their families and all of Canada who is proud of them.”

Outside the curling venue, two Canadian reporters asked questions about the curling controversy Sunday at the IOC’s general daily press conference, where discussion often is dominated by political issues.

IOC spokesperson Mark Adams was asked if he had heard about Canadian concerns about Swedish video prior to the Curling Canada statement being released.

“If they want to make a complaint, they should go to the federation (World Curling),” Adams said. “The federations runs the rules of the competition and then we’ll take it from there. But that’s the first I’ve heard of it.”