Zambia’s coach, Bruce Mwape, has been accused of rubbing his hands over the chest of one of his players two days before his country’s historic victory over Costa Rica in their final match at the Women’s World Cup.
FIFA has confirmed it received an official complaint about the alleged incident after Zambia claimed their first win at a World Cup on Monday in New Zealand. Before the tournament the Guardian revealed Mwape was the subject of an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.
According to a source close to the squad, several players saw Mwape rubbing his hands over the chest of one of their teammates last Friday after training. “It’s not appropriate for a coach to be touching a player’s breasts,” said the source.
Witnesses are understood to have discussed reporting the incident immediately but decided to wait until after their campaign had been completed over fears that they would not be selected for unsettling the team. Zambia had already been eliminated after 5-0 defeats by Spain and Japan, but finished third in the group after the 3-1 victory over Costa Rica.
It is understood the allegation against Mwape was reported to a FIFA delegate, who has been with the squad throughout their stay in New Zealand. The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) president, Andrew Kamanga, is believed to be aware of the incident.
The FAZ and Mwape did not respond to the Guardian’s questions. A FIFA spokesperson said: “FIFA takes any allegation of misconduct extremely seriously and has a clear process in place for anyone in football who wants to report an incident.
“We can confirm that a complaint has been received in relation to the Zambian women’s national team and this is currently being investigated. We cannot provide further details regarding an ongoing investigation for obvious confidentiality reasons.”
