Team GB dragged into Winter Olympics 'double touch' cheating row
The scandal was first ignited by Sweden's Oskar Eriksson, who repeatedly accused his Canadian opponent Marc Kennedy of breaking this rule in the match last Friday.
Team GB's curlers have been dragged into the Winter Olympics cheating scandal after being penalised for a 'double touch' - days after Canada's team was accused of the same offence.
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The curling competition in Milan and Cortina has been plagued by controversy, all surrounding the breaking of the double-touching rule - when a player touches the stone again after they have released it on the ice.
The scandal was first ignited by Sweden's Oskar Eriksson, who repeatedly accused his Canadian opponent Marc Kennedy of breaking this rule in the match last Friday.
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The accusation infuriated Kennedy, who could be heard shouting back: "I haven't done it once. You can f*** off."
Team GB have now been punished for a similar violation, after curler Bobby Lammie grazed the stone with his finger after releasing it in their match against Germany on Sunday.
The women's curling event has also been marred by the double-touching controversy, after Canada's Rachel Homan had her stone removed when an official ruled that she had touched it again after releasing the handle.
Responding to the offences, World Curling confirmed on Saturday that two officials would be positioned to observe all deliveries for the rest of the Games.
Curling's rule book states that when players are delivering the stone, they can retouch the handle as many times as they wish before the hog line - the green line about 30 feet down from the starting block.
However, touching the handle after the hog line is not allowed and will result in the stone being removed from play.
Britain's Lammie was the latest to break this rule at the winter Games, with an umpire removing his stone from play and instructing captain Bruce Mouat to return a German stone back to its previous position.
Lammie seen surprised by the offence, which occurred while GB was 7-4 ahead, but did not argue the decision.
Team GB would ultimately score two in that end to confirm a 9-4 victory.
As it stands, Britain 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 sit in the heart of the double-touch controversy, currently lie in second place.