What we know about the Briane Harris situation at the Scotties

The Team Canada lead was ruled ineligible for the Canadian women’s curling championship

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We’re into Day 4 of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary and there has still been no explanation as to why Team Canada lead Briane Harris was ruled ineligible for the Canadian women’s curling championship.

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Harris, an integral member of the four-time defending champion squad skipped by Kerri Einarson, has not been able to play in the tournament at Calgary’s WinSport Events Centre and her absence has been shrouded in mystery.

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Einarson’s team, who has won every Scotties title since 2020, has soldiered on with alternate player Krysten Karwacki filling in at lead.

Everyone, from Curling Canada to the members of the Einarson team, to the player in question, has been tight-lipped about the situation and while people across Canada are clamouring to find out what is going on, there have been few hard details to report.

Here’s what we know:

— Curling Canada issued a statement on social media on Friday, just hours before the start of the tournament, saying it had been “made aware” that Harris is ineligible to compete in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. The statement also said no further information was available and no further comment would be coming from Curling Canada nor from members of Team Canada.

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— The key words in the statement are “made aware.” The point is that the ineligibility ruling came from a third party outside of Curling Canada. That party informed Curling Canada that it is not permitted to explain further. There is a belief that the organization’s hands are tied and they are waiting to hear more, just like everyone else.

— It seems any new information about this situation will have to come from the third party that was mentioned, although at this point we don’t know for certain who or what that third party is.

— It would be pure speculation for anyone to suggest exactly what is going on in this situation, but we do know that there is random drug testing for carded athletes. We also know Harris is a new mother, who was pregnant at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and world championship last season.

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— The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport handles drug testing and the reporting of results. Typically, the results are reported on the CCES website. The policies of the organization state that “within 20 days after it has been determined on a hearing or on an appeal whether an anti-doping rule violation has occurred, the CCES will name the athlete, sport, banned substance and consequences imposed.”

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Einarson’s team entered Monday’s play with a 2-1 record as it seeks a record fifth straight Canadian championship.

As was suggested in the Curling Canada statement, Einarson and her teammates said they were not at liberty to talk about the Harris situation.

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This is not the first time an ambiguous situation has arisen just prior to a major curling event.

Back in 2021, Braeden Moskowy of Team Matt Dunstone was ruled ineligible for the Olympic Curling Trials in Saskatoon. No explanation was ever given for his absence, but it put the Dunstone team in a difficult spot as it had to use a replacement player for one of the biggest events of the curlers’ lives.

It also appeared to weigh on Dunstone to have to stand in front of the media and say nothing about the situation. Again, in that situation, Curling Canada said it would make no further comments and there would be none from players.

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