FIFA is investigating a possible case of sexual assault at the Women's World Cup being held in Australia and New Zealand. Zambia's coach, Bruce Mwape, has been accused of rubbing the chest of one of his players with his hands two days before his country's historic victory over Costa Rica in their last game of the Women's World Cup, on July 31.
FIFA has confirmed that it received an official complaint about the alleged incident after Zambia claimed its first World Cup victory on Monday in New Zealand. According to The Guardian, it would not be the first complaint against Mwape: before the tournament he was the subject of an investigation for allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct.
Based on the information published by the British media, several players saw Mwape rubbing her hands on the chest of one of her teammates last Friday, July 28.
The players, it seems, immediately spoke about the need to report the incident, although they finally decided to wait until their presence in the World Cup ended, which ended this Monday, the 31st, with their historic victory against Costa Rica.
To this day, both the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) and FIFA are aware of the incident. FIFA has responded to The Guardian that it "takes any allegation of misconduct very seriously and has a clear process for anyone in football who wants to report an incident." In addition, it has confirmed that "a complaint has been received in relation to the Zambian women's national team and that it is currently being investigated."
Mwape was designated by Zambia in May 2018 and helped them qualify for the World Cup for the first time. The FAZ said in September 2022 that it had referred an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse in women's football to FIFA. Mwape and under-17 coach Kaluba Kangwa are believed to have been among the FAZ employees who were investigated. Kangwa left his post even though there was no official announcement from the FAZ.
Mwape has always denied the accusations, which he has described as "false". Meanwhile, the Zambian players are fighting with their federation to collect, both for their presence at the Tokyo Olympics and for their recent performance in the World Cup.
