Zambia coach Bruce Mwape accused of rubbing player’s chest at Women’s World Cup

FIFA has opened an investigation into Zambia coach Bruce Mwape after a complaint was filed by one of his players at the Women’s World Cup.

Mwape is accused of rubbing his hands over the chest of a player after a training session, days before their group stage match against Costa Rica.

“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,” a FIFA spokesperson said. “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.”

On Friday, the Football Association of Zambia said it was not aware of any allegations made toward Mwape, the team’s coach since 2018.

“We wish to state the Football Association of Zambia has not received any such complaint from any of the players or officials in the delegation that traveled to the World Cup,” FAZ General Secretary Reuben Kamanga said in a statement. “All the training sessions for the Copper Queens were filmed by the FAZ media team and offers no such footage… Additionally, a FIFA film crew attached to the Zambian team at the World Cup was present at all training sessions.”

If found guilty, the 63-year-old would face a lifetime ban.

Mwape was reportedly at the center of claims of sexual misconduct investigated last year.

“If he [Mwape] wants to sleep with someone, you have to say yes,” one player, who did not want to be named, told The Guardian last month. “It’s normal that the coach sleeps with the players in our team.”

The coach has previously denied the accusations.

“It has taken about a year now. You are still talking about the same allegations,” Mwape said on July 22, before his team’s first match at the World Cup in New Zealand. “As far as I’m concerned, they are fake allegations.”

Zambia, making its first World Cup appearance, beat Cost Rica for the country’s first win, 3-1, on Monday, though it was not enough to advance after losses to Japan and Spain.

The team has already returned home.

According to the Associated Press, Mwape did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent via the Zambian federation on Friday.