A scandal has shaken the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Zambia’s coach, Bruce Mwape, is under investigation by FIFA, accused of groping a player’s breasts. These serious events have been revealed by The Guardian newspaper, which ensures that several players witnessed the attack: “It is not appropriate for a coach to touch a player like that,” these sources confessed.
The accusations against the Zambian coach are not new, since he was accused at the beginning of July of inappropriate sexual conduct towards the players. “If he (Mwape) wants to sleep with one, you have to say yes” and “it is usual for the coach to sleep with team players”, were some of the confessions that the British newspaper collected in its July 9 edition. The Federation of Zambia (FAZ) replied that it would investigate it together with the country’s police and FIFA itself. Despite these very serious complaints, Mwape was allowed to continue in his position and lead the team in the World Cup.
Last Friday, during training prior to Zambia’s last game against Costa Rica, the coach was once again at the center of the controversy. Several players witnessed Mwape inappropriately touching a teammate. For fear of reprisals, they agreed to wait until his participation in the World Cup was over before denouncing him definitively.
Zambia has shared a group with Spain in the tournament. In the press conference prior to the two teams facing each other, FIFA prohibited journalists from asking about this matter. “As far as I’m concerned, they are false accusations,” was the only thing the coach said, at the insistence of the Spanish press.
FIFA has now confirmed having received “a formal complaint” and has stated that it “takes any accusation of misconduct very seriously.” Without revealing details about the ongoing investigation “for reasons of confidentiality”, FIFA recalls that it has an anonymous channel to report any abuse and undertakes to “guarantee the safety of those who report, as well as witnesses.” If proven guilty, the body undertakes to adopt “the strongest possible sanctions”, including “lifetime suspension”.
The Zambian federation, for its part, denied having knowledge of such accusations and was “surprised” by the information that appeared. His spokespersons assured that all the training sessions were recorded by the Federation’s cameras and “they do not offer images like those denounced by The Guardian.” They also point out that a FIFA team was present at all working sessions.
But the accusations do not end here. In September last year, FIFA already investigated a case of possible sexual abuse in the Zambian Federation. Mwape himself and U-17 coach Kaluba Kangwa, who stepped down shortly afterwards without giving a public explanation, are believed to have been involved.
In addition, the players have not been paid for two years. Some are owed more than 60,000 euros, including the 28,000 that FIFA promised to all soccer players for participating in the group stage of the World Cup. A money that, as the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, recalled this week, will first end up in the hands of the member federations and that then depends on the will of each federation to distribute it among its players.
