Team GB‘s curlers fell foul of increased surveillance by officials after Canada’s cheating row, with the Bruce Mouat’s team penalised for a ‘double touch’ on Sunday.
Friday’s curling match between Canada and Sweden was marred by controversy in Cortina after a fierce dispute over claims of double-touching broke out on the ice.
Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson repeatedly accused opponent Marc Kennedy of cheating, alleging that he was double-touching the stones, which led to a furious reaction from the Canadian.
‘I haven’t done it once,’ Kennedy shouted in a wild outburst that was captured on the SVT broadcast. ‘You can f*** off.’
The double-touching controversy crossed over into women’s curling, after Canada’s Rachel Homan had her stone removed when an official ruled that she had touched it again after releasing the handle.
Homan’s offence occurred after World Curling directed two umpires to move between the four matches during each round to monitor play.
Team GB’s Bobby Lammie was adjudged to have touched a stone after the hog-line, the latest incident in the ‘double touch’ curling controversy
Lammie appeared surprised after Team GB were pulled up on the offence by the umpires
Team GB were instructed to replace a German stone, which Lammie’s delivery had knocked out of play
Team GB became the latest team to be accused of an offence during the ninth end of their round robin match against Germany on Sunday.
Bobby Lammie was accused of touching a stone after releasing it down the ice, with an umpire intervening.
The stone used by Lammie was removed from play, with the umpire instructing British skip Mouat to return a German stone back to its previous position.
Lammie had appeared surprised after being informed that he had made an offence
‘The judge has burned a stone, it [the German stone] has been put back,’ said BBC commentator Steve Cram.
‘Not again,’ said co-commentator Jackie Lockhart, a former GB Olympic curler.
One of the German curlers was heard asking the umpire whether a double touch had occurred.
‘The dark shadowy figures had come back down again and there is one down at the hog line,’ Cram continued.
The German stone was replaced, with BBC commentators Steve Cram and Jackie Lockhart expressing surprise at the latest incident spotted by curling’s umpires
Canada’s curling team had been accused of double touches on Friday, with the team accused of cheating by their rivals
Swiss curler Pablo Lachat-Couchepin (right) alleged that he witnessed double-touching
Canada’s Marc Kennedy reacted furiously after being accused of double-touching on Friday
‘If they are going to do that you need to be consistent. Not all the matches have one.’
Lockhart added: ‘I thought I heard the umpire say a double touch, but you can touch the handle as many times as you want before it hits the hog line.
‘But you can’t touch the granite of the stone, but I am not sure that is something Bobby would do.
‘The guys just have to park that, you can’t let that get to you. You have to play your shots.’
Cram and Lockhart would see the lighter side of the incident, which occurred with Britain leading 7-4 in the match.
‘The umpire is still standing there, he is like one of those scary statues in Doctor Who, he is still standing there stoically, beady eyed,’ Cram joked.
Despite having their stone removed, Team GB would ultimately score two in the end, with the two teams shaking hands to confirm a 9-4 win for Mouat’s team.
Having instructed two officials to be positioned to observe all deliveries from Saturday, after the controversy involving the Canadian team on Friday, World Curling issued updated guidance last night.
‘Following a meeting with representatives of the competing National Olympic Committees, an update in the stone monitoring protocol has been confirmed, beginning with the evening session on Sunday 15 February,’ a World Curling statement said.
‘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.’
As it stands, Team GB lie third in the men’s round robin standings with four wins and two defeats, with the top four teams earning places in the semi-finals.
Canada, who were the team at the heart of the controversy, currently lie in second place with Switzerland – who accused them of the offence – topping the standings.