‘You can f*** off’ - Curling beef erupts over cheating accusations at Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, Canada's Marc Kennedy regrets 'F-bomb'
Updated 14/02/2026 at 19:04 GMT
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The curling rinks saw some of the fiercest action at the Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games on Friday, with Canada narrowly beating Sweden in the men’s team event. But that game will be remembered for some bad tempered exchanges as much as the scoreline, with Sweden accusing Canada of breaking the rules - a claim the Canadians refuted. You can watch all the action on TNT Sports and discovery+.
'You can f*** off!' - Curling beef erupts over cheating accusations
Video credit: TNT Sports
Canada handed Sweden their third straight defeat in the Winter Olympics men’s curling event on Friday, winning a bad-tempered exchange 8-6 after 10 ends.
The defeat leaves Sweden in a perilous position at the bottom of the table in Milano Cortina - which you can watch live on TNT Sports and discovery+ - while Canada sit on top with three wins from their opening three matches.
But the result does not tell the full story of what unfolded on the rink, with Sweden feeling the pressure in the 10th end, as they trailed by one, and Canada having the hammer to boot.
Oskar Eriksson could be heard engaging in a foul-mouthed exchange with his counterpart, Marc Kennedy, who was not a fan of the accusations levelled at him.
"Apparently it’s alright touching the rock after the hog line," Eriksson said to Kennedy, who swiftly spun round.
"Who?" Kennedy asked.
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"It’s a couple," Eriksson replied, before things got heated.
"Who? I haven’t done it once. You can f*** off," the Canadian retorted.
There are electronic devices in the handles of the stones, which flash if the player is still in contact after the hog line.
But that technology was not enough to satisfy Eriksson that there was no wrong doing.
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"You haven’t done it once?" he continued.
"I haven’t done it once," Kennedy replied.
"OK I’ll show you a video after the game."
"How about you walking around my peel and around the house? How about that? C'mon Oskar, just f*** off," Kennedy again retorted, with his team-mates watching the exchange closely.
Despite the officials watching on, Eriksson was not perturbed and again offered to show the Canadians a video, leading to one last retort from Kennedy.
"I don’t give a f***. They were standing here and didn’t call it," he blasted.
Canada had the hammer in the final end, and scored to win 8-6.
But the exchanges did not end on the ice, with both players continuing the spat with the media afterwards.
"It’s good. It’s sport. It’s the Olympics. Both teams are trying to win. Oskar was accusing us of cheating. I didn’t like it. I’ve been curling professionally for 25 years," explained Kennedy, as reported by the Guardian.
"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.
"Because we’re the wrong team to do that to. So I don’t care.
"He might have been upset that he was losing. He might be upset that they’re 0-2, grasping for straws. I just told him again. I said I have a ton of respect for him as a player.
"I’ve never said a bad word about Oskar Eriksson. I don’t really know what he’s trying to get out of it. And yeah, onward. But I’m not going to stand there and take cheating lightly."
Kennedy spoke later in the day and defended his record in the sport but expressed regret about his use of expletives.
"I can’t think of once in my entire career where I’ve done something to gain a competitive advantage by cheating," he said.
"And I take that very seriously. And it’s been a really long career. So when you get called out, my instinct was to be a little bit of a bulldog. I don’t regret defending myself or my team-mates in that moment. I just probably regret the language I used."
Nolan Thiessen, Canada’s head of curling, regretted Kennedy’s use of language.
"Something was said in his ear which got him going," Thiessen said. "Head games get played in a lot of sports and things get said in competitive sport and I think this was one of those situations.
"Do I wish Mark didn’t drop an F-bomb? Yeah."
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Eriksson was first seen talking to the officials earlier in the game having spotted what he believed was an infringement. Officials were then sent to monitor the hog line and the situation.
"We told the officials. They came out and they misread the rules, sadly," the Swedish curler said afterwards.
"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."
Both nations returned to action on Saturday with Sweden defeating China 6-4 and Canada losing 9-5 to Switzerland. Those results move Sweden into eighth position, while Canada are tied second following their first loss of the round robin.
World Curling clarifies the rules
On Saturday, World Curling released a statement which read: Following the situations arising from the Sweden versus Canada game in men’s session four on Friday (February 13) evening, several issues require clarification.
Use of Video Replay
World Curling does not currently use video replay to re-umpire game decisions. Decisions made during a game are final.
Delivery Violations
Game Umpires are situated at the end of each sheet and physically cannot see every delivery infraction. However, when they are made aware of delivery issues, game umpires are positioned to observe the delivery for three ends. During this period of observation in the Friday evening game, there were no violations recorded.
When delivering a stone, before the hog line players can retouch the handle as many times as they wish. However, touching the handle after the hog line is not allowed and will result in a the stone being removed from play as per Rule R.5 (e) that states: "A stone must be clearly released from the hand before it reaches the hog line at the delivery end. If the player fails to do so, the stone is immediately removed from play by the delivering team."
During forward motion, touching the granite of the stone is not allowed. This will result in the stone being removed from play.
As per rule R.5 (d) "The curling stone must be delivered using the handle of the stone." Violation of this rule, will result in the stone being removed from play.
It is not possible for World Curling to have game umpires positioned to observe all hog lines for every stone delivery. However, beginning with the Saturday (14 February) afternoon session, two officials will move between all four sheets and observe deliveries.
Inappropriate Behaviour
Following the Friday evening session, World Curling spoke with the Canadian officials to issue a verbal warning regarding the language used by a Canadian men’s player during the game.
During that meeting it was made clear to those officials that further inappropriate behaviour, determined by rule R.19 would result in additional sanctions.
During that meeting it was made clear to those officials that further inappropriate behaviour, determined by rule R.19 would result in additional sanctions.
Rule R.19 states: "Improper conduct, foul or offensive language, equipment abuse, or wilful damage on the part of any team member is prohibited. Any violation may result in suspension of the offending person(s) by the curling organisation having jurisdiction."
Watch every event of Milano Cortina 2026 live on discovery+. Available across all subscription plans, starting at £3.99.
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