Curling controversy widens amid higher surveillance as Britain accused of same infraction as Canada

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO — The curling controversy at the Winter Olympics widened Sunday as increased surveillance of the matches resulted in the removal of a stone thrown by the British men's team for the same alleged violation that burned the Canadians two days in a row.

In the ninth end of Britain's round robin match against Germany, officials said Scottish curler Bobby Lammie had touched a stone after releasing it down the ice. That is called “double-touching,” and it is against the rules. Britain won the match 9-4.

The controversy surfaced Friday night with an allegation against the Canadian men's team by their Swedish opponents; a day later, a stone was removed from the Canadian women's match against Switzerland. Videos circulating on social media appeared to show both Canadian curlers double-touching the rocks but both teams denied wrongdoing.

Beginning Saturday, World Curling said it would designate two officials to move between the four curling matches during each round but noted it was “not possible” to have umpires stationed at each hog line — where the stones must be released by hand — during every match.

It was not known whether officials were watching some teams more closely than others. World Curling says it does not use video replays for reviewing game play.

Until Sunday, the controversy had been limited to the Canadian curlers, who represent one of the world's most fervent fanbases.