Women’s World Cup 2023: Fifa to look into sexual misconduct complaint against Zambia head coach Bruce Mwape

Fifa is said to be investigating an official complaint against the Zambian head coach Bruce Mwape after he is alleged to have sexually assaulted a player at the Women’s World Cup.

Mwape is accused of rubbing his hands over the chest of one of his players during a training session in New Zealand on 29 July and a spokesperson for Fifa has since said: “a complaint has been received. Fifa takes any allegations of misconduct extremely seriously and has a clear process in place for anyone in football who wants to report an incident.”

The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ), however, has said: “it has not received any such complaint” and it is a “surprise.” This is not the first time Mwape, who took charge of the side in 2018, has been accused of sexual misconduct with allegations against the head coach emerging last year on social media.

Mwape was repeatedly asked about the allegations at World Cup press conferences but he denied any wrongdoing, insisting the reports were “fake”.

Zambia have returned home from the Australian and New Zealand World Cup after being eliminated from Group C. Despite being Germany in the pre-tournament friendlies, the Zambian side went on to lose 5-0 to both Japan and Spain before winning 3-1 against Costa Rica in their final match. Their win also marked their first victory at a World Cup,

Their single three points was, however, not enough to push them into the knockout stages of the tournament and they are now returning back home.

Speaking about the allegations, FAZ released a statement saying: “All the training sessions for the Copper Queens (Zambia) 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.

“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.”

A spokesperson for New Zealand police added: “We were made aware of an alleged incident and after making initial enquiries, no further action was required to be taken.”