During Friday’s curling match between Canada and Sweden, a heated exchange unfolded, involving some choice words over cheating allegations.
In the final moments of the game, which saw Canada’s Team Brad Jacobs secure an 8-6 victory against Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin, Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson seemingly made an accusation against Canada’s Mark Kennedy for a potential infraction. Kennedy didn’t take kindly to the claim.
“I’ve never done it before,” he stated on the ice, as captured on camera. “You can stop now.”
Eriksson stood his ground, saying, “I’ll show you the video after the game.” He added he had evidence of Kennedy crossing the pig line by a significant margin.
“Come on, Oscar, stop for a second,” Kennedy shot back.
2026 Winter Olympics
Both teams reported the incident to the officials, and Canada specifically called for referees to note the situation.
Post-match, when Team Jacobs improved to a 3-0 record, Kennedy expressed his frustration over the accusations. “I didn’t want to be accused of cheating, so I told him what I thought,” he remarked. “It’s part of sports; it gets heated, and we’ve faced each other countless times.”
Eriksson, however, chose not to address reporters following the match.
Meanwhile, Edin, whose team had yet to secure a win after three games, supported his teammates. “In my opinion, it’s pretty clear what’s happening,” he said. “I don’t really know why the Canadians reacted that way, but it’s disappointing they resorted to shouting instead of just acknowledging it. There’s no reason to lie; all these matches are recorded, and there are definitely cameras around. If they claim something happened, it likely did.”
