The coach of the Zambia workforce making ready to make its debut on the Girls’s World Cup has been accused of sexual misconduct and the case was referred to world physique FIFA final yr for investigation, based on a report in The Guardian newspaper.
Bruce Mwape was accused of coercing gamers into having intercourse with him in the event that they wished to maintain their place on the workforce, based on the report printed by the British newspaper on Saturday.
Different Zambian coaches and officers had been additionally accused of sexual misconduct and investigated, together with the Underneath-17 ladies’ workforce coach, based on the paper.
Zambia soccer affiliation president Andrew Kamanga confirmed in a message to The Related Press on Sunday that allegations of sexual misconduct had been referred to FIFA and Zambian police final yr and mentioned it was “an previous story.” Kamanga didn’t identify any of the folks dealing with allegations of wrongdoing.
In keeping with protocol, FIFA mentioned its impartial ethics committee wouldn’t touch upon whether or not or not there was an investigation underway.
Zambia’s soccer affiliation launched its personal investigation final yr but in addition didn’t identify any officers, coaches or gamers concerned on the time. The Zambian affiliation mentioned when it made the announcement in September that it was taking the allegations critically.
However The Guardian quoted an nameless supply as saying that the Zambian affiliation was “turning a blind eye” to the allegations due to the latest success of its girls’s workforce underneath Mwape.
Zambia certified for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which begins this month. The lads’s workforce has by no means made it to the World Cup.
Zambia on Friday had a shocking 3-2 win over two-time World Cup winner Germany in a warmup sport for this yr’s match. Zambia captain and star striker Barbra Banda scored twice, together with the successful objective within the twelfth minute of added time.
Banda has been on the middle of one other controversy for the Zambian soccer affiliation after she was withdrawn from final yr’s Girls’s African Cup of Nations due to a bungled intercourse eligibility case.
Zambia’s soccer affiliation eliminated Banda from its squad for the match over intercourse eligibility guidelines regardless of Banda being cleared to play on the Olympics and on the World Cup. The affiliation and the African soccer confederation blamed one another for mishandling Banda’s case.
Zambia is in Group C on the World Cup with Spain, Costa Rica and Japan and performs its first sport towards the Japanese on July 22.
Mwape was featured in an interview on the FIFA web site in Might, when he spoke about taking Zambia to the World Cup for the primary time.
Within the interview, he mentioned that the workforce’s achievement had “modified soccer in Zambia” by inspiring many women to start out enjoying.
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