sports

World Curling Retracts Increased Monitoring After Athlete Complaints

World Curling has reversed its decision to increase monitoring of matches at the Winter Olympics following a meeting with national federations and athletes who expressed dissatisfaction with the new surveillance measures.

World Curling announced on Sunday that umpires will no longer monitor games by default following a backlash from athletes who felt the increased surveillance disrupted the spirit of the sport.

The governing body initially deployed two umpires to watch the 'hog line' after Swedish curler Oskar Eriksson accused Marc Kennedy of a rule violation. However, after just 24 hours and two infractions being called, federations requested a return to the previous system where officials are available on request but not constantly watching.