Women's World Cup manager accused of sexually assaulting a player at the tournament
Women's World Cup manager has been accused of sexually assaulting a player
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FIFA are investing an official complaint that Zambia Women's manager Bruce Mwape sexually assaulted a player at this year's World Cup.
The 63-year-old is accused of rubbing his hands over the chest of one of his own players during a training session in New Zealand on July 29.
FIFA have confirmed a complaint has been received.
The alleged incident reportedly took place at a training session two days before Zambia beat Costa Rica 3-1 for their first victory at a World Cup.
Zambia boss Bruce Mwape has been accused of sexually assaulting a player
A FIFA spokesperson added: "FIFA takes any allegation of misconduct extremely seriously and has a clear process in place for anyone in football who wants to report an incident."
Zambia finished third in Group C and have since returned home from the tournament.
The Football Associate of Zambia insists it 'has not received any such complaint' and it is a 'surprise'.
They also said: "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 New Zealand police spokesperson said: "We were made aware of an alleged incident and after making initial enquiries, no further action was required to be taken."
There were also accusations of sexual abuse against Mwape, who has been manager of the team since 2018, on social media last year.
Yet the Zambia manager insists they're 'fake'.
When asked about the allegations before the World Cup commenced, he said: "What environment affecting the team in particular? What are you talking about?
"I would like to know because there is no way I can retire without, for no reason.
"Maybe your reason is because what you are reading from the media or from the press, but the truth of the matter should actually come out, not just on rumours."
Zambia captain Barbra Banda was asked if players considered leaving the team in a sign of protest against the alleged misconduct of Mwape.
Yet she refused to answer the question after a FIFA media officer, as well as a Zambian official, pushed back.
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FIFA are investigating the complaint
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While Zambia were able to beat Costa Rica 3-1, they lost their other two matches at the tournament.
They were emphatically beaten 5-1 by Japan in their opening match of the competition, with Catherine Musonda seeing red late on.
And Zambia also lost 5-0 to Spain on July 26.