Stephen Colbert mocks curling’s directional-fabric broom controversy

One of Canada’s favourite winter sports has received some unexpected attention from one of America’s leading late-night comedians.

Late Show host Stephen Colbert dedicated six minutes of his monologue on Friday night to the controversy over directional-fabric brooms in curling.

Coarse material on the broom heads creates a sandpaper effect on the ice and with it, sweepers have been able to manipulate the rock’s trajectory in ways they never could before.

Colbert said it was wrong to allow a sport to be dominated by whoever could afford the fanciest broom.

Earlier this week, the World Curling Federation extended a ban on the controversial broom heads to all events for the 2015-16 season.

Colbert noted he approved of 16th Century Scottish curling rules where whoever survived a fall through the ice was the winner.