Curling-World Curling take action after Sweden accuse Canada of cheating

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 14 : World Curling said on Saturday that it would have officials monitoring for rule violations during the rest of the competition at the Olympics after Sweden's men's team accused Canada of cheating in a tense round-robin game.

Tensions boiled over on Friday when Brad Jacobs' Canada beat Sweden 8-6, with Niklas Edin's rink alleging their opponents were double touching the stone during the contest.

World Curling has introduced electronic handles on stones at the Games, which flash red if players are still making contact with the stone beyond the hog line - the point where curlers must let go during delivery.

However, the sensor for detecting violations is in the handle, with Sweden claiming Canada's players were touching the granite, where there are no sensors.

"It is not possible for World Curling to have game umpires positioned to observe all hog lines for every stone delivery," World Curling said in a statement. 

"However, beginning with the Saturday (February 14) afternoon session, two officials will move between all four sheets and observe deliveries."

World Curling also clarified its rules on deliveries, saying: "During forward motion, touching the granite of the stone is not allowed. This will result in the stone being removed from play."

INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR

After Sweden and Canada asked officials to keep an eye on their opponents' deliveries early on, there was a heated exchange between the teams' thirds Marc Kennedy and Oskar Eriksson towards the end of the game.    

Eriksson told Kennedy he would show him a video replay of him touching the stone repeatedly. The Canadian responded with an expletive.

"World Curling spoke with the Canadian officials to issue a verbal warning regarding the