The captain of the Zambia women national team, Barbra Banda maintains that they are “focusing on the football” in spite of a report in circulation that manager, Bruce Mwape is being investigated for sexual misconduct with players.
Reports from The Guardian have alleged that Bruce Mwape was the center of an investigation being conducted by the Zambian FA.
The investigation has since been referred to the governing body of football, FIFA and the police.
Bruce Mwape refused to comment on the reports
Mwape chose not to comment while in front of the press, after Zambia arrived in New Zealand ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Captain Barbra Banda expressed that the Zambian players had their minds focused squarely on the first game in the tournament, where they will be facing off against Japan on the 22nd of July, 2023.
Japan has won the FIFA Women’s World Cup in the past, lifting the prestigious trophy in 2011.
They were also runners up in the 2015 edition of the tournament, losing to the United States Of America by 5 – 2 in the final.
Japan definitely is a tough preposition for the majority of the sides in the tournament, even particularly African nations.
Speaking ahead of their first encounter against Japan, Barbara Banda expressed bluntly that she isn’t in a position to answer questions regarding the alleged conducts of Bruce Mwape.
She said: “I’m not in a position to answer that because I’m just a player, my job is to be on the pitch, not on the technical side.”
Banda stated that many times, the focus of players primarily is what happens “on the pitch” and “not on the technical side”.
The 23-year-old said: “Mostly, I think as players our mind is just on the pitch, the rest we leave to the management and whatever comes up it’s up to them. Our job is just to work on the pitch.”
Female player shocking revelation about Zambian manager Bruce Mwape
Meanwhile, one female player who opted not to be named, shockingly told The Guardian that if manager Bruce Mwape wants to sleep with someone, it’s a must to agree to his demands.
The unnamed player said: “If he [Mwape] wants to sleep with someone, you have to say yes.
“It’s normal that the coach sleeps with the players in our team.”
FIFA refused to reveal if Bruce Mwape is being investigated for sexual misconduct
Based on protocol, FIFA stated that its autonomous ethics committee would not speak concerning the scandal if there is an investigation ongoing.
The Guardian also reports that other Zambian managers and officials were also accused of sexual misconduct and investigation is in progress.
The U-17 manager of the Zambian women national team is also reportedly being investigated for sexual misconduct.
Bruce Mwape was made manager of the Zambia women national team in May 2018 and he assisted Zambia to qualify for the FIFA World Cup, the first time in their history.
The Copper Queens are ranked 77th in the world but they earned remarkable results sharing the spoils 3-3 with Switzerland.
They also defeated Germany, two-time world champions by 3-2 in a friendly played on the 7th of July, 2023.
