FIFA is investigating Zambia women's national team coach Bruce Mwape for allegedly rubbing his hands on the chest of one of his players earlier this week. According to The Guardian, FIFA confirmed they received an official complaint regarding the alleged incident following Zambia's win over Costa Rica on Monday.
Prior to the 2023 World Cup getting underway, the Guardian confirmed that Mwape was being investigated into other allegations of sexual misconduct. Many members of the Zambia national team saw Mwape rubbing his hands over the chest of the unknown player.
Zambia was eliminated from the World Cup after being defeated by Japan and Spain. They did beat Costa Rica, 3-1, and finished third in their group.
The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) president Andrew Kamanga is reportedly aware that this incident took place.
"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 told The Guardian. "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."
The FAZ's general secretary, Reuben Kamanga, also stated that the governing body wasn't aware of any complaints regarding Zambia's national team.
"We wish to state the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has not received any such complaint from any of the players or officials in the delegation that travelled to the World Cup," Reuben Kamanga said. "It has therefore come as a surprise for us to hear of such alleged misconduct by the coach as reported in the said online publication.
"We, however, wish to reassure the public that FAZ maintains the highest standards of integrity and transparency and always demands unwavering ethical conduct of the players and officials on and off the field of play. We therefore would not hesitate to take disciplinary measures and act on any misconduct once we are in receipt of an official complaint or when presented with evidence pertaining to an alleged incident."
Mwape, 63, has served as Zambia's head coach since May 2018 and helped the team qualify for their first World Cup in 2023. The FAZ stated in September 2022 that they were aware of another investigation in allegations of sexual misconduct relating to Mwape. Mwape and Under-17 coach Kaluba Kangwa were investigated, and Kangwa stepped down from his position without an official announcement from the FAZ.
Mwape has denied all of the sexual misconduct allegations.
"It has taken about a year now," Mwape said prior to Zambia's first World Cup match last month. "You are still talking about the same allegations. As far as I'm concerned they are fake allegations."
