The coach of the Zambia team preparing to make its debut at the Women’s World Cup has been accused of sexual misconduct and the case was referred to world body FIFA last year for investigation, according to a report in The Guardian newspaper.
Bruce Mwape was accused of coercing players into having sex with him if they wanted to keep their place on the team, according to the report published by the British newspaper on Saturday.
Other Zambian coaches and officials were also accused of sexual misconduct and investigated, including the Under-17 girls’ team coach, according to the paper.
Zambia soccer association president Andrew Kamanga confirmed in a message to The Associated Press on Sunday that allegations of sexual misconduct were referred to FIFA and Zambian police last year and said it was “an old story.” Kamanga didn’t name any of the people facing allegations of wrongdoing.
In line with protocol, FIFA said its independent ethics committee would not comment on whether or not there was an investigation underway.
Zambia’s soccer association launched its own investigation last year but also didn’t name any officials, coaches or players involved at the time. The Zambian association said when it made the announcement in September that it was taking the allegations seriously.
But The Guardian quoted an anonymous source as saying that the Zambian association was “turning a blind eye” to the allegations because of the recent success of its women’s team under Mwape.
