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WWC: Zambia coach accused of ‘rubbing player’s breasts’ as FIFA launch investigation

Zambia manager Bruce Mwape is being investigated by FIFA after he was accused of rubbing a player’s chest following a training session at the Women’s World Cup.

A complaint was made to world football’s governing body after the African nation secured its first ever victory at the tournament by beating Costa Rica on Monday.

The alleged incident took place after Zambia’s training session on Friday 28 July, according to The Guardian, with a source close to the squad claiming that several players saw Mwape rubbing his hands over the chest of one of their team-mates. Witnesses were said to have discussed the possibility of reporting it immediately but ended up waiting until after Monday’s game out of fear that they would not be selected.

Andrew Kamanga, president of the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ), is thought to be aware of the incident after it was reported to a FIFA delegate who had been with the squad throughout their Women’s World Cup campaign. Express Sport have approached the FAZ for comment but the governing body is yet to respond.

A FIFA spokesperson said: “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. We can confirm that a complaint has been received in relation to the Zambian women’s national team and this is currently being investigated.

“We cannot provide further details regarding an ongoing investigation for obvious confidentiality reasons. Anyone who wishes to report allegations or information related to abuse in football can do so via FIFA’s confidential reporting platform, with all information that is submitted to FIFA handled in the strictest of confidence.

“In addition, FIFA offers support and assistance to ensure the safety of those who report a safeguarding issue, including witnesses who come forward and give testimony in FIFA judicial cases. Where guilt is established, FIFA takes the strongest possible sanctions, including removing people from the game for life. Our track record demonstrates this.”

Meanwhile, the FAZ told the BBC: “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.

The alleged incident was said to have taken place before Zambia’s group stage win over Costa Rica.
“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.”

Mwape was also the subject of sexual misconduct allegations before the start of the Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand but has denied the claims. A player who wished to remain anonymous told The Guardian last month: “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.”

The Zambia boss was then quizzed on those allegations prior to their second group stage match against Spain before a FIFA media officer stepped in and said: “I’ll ask you to restrict the questions to the football and to the tournament only.”

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NDDC committed to developing athletes discovered at Niger Delta Sports Festival

A new approach to grassroots sports development will see athletes discovered at the ongoing Niger Delta Sports Festival (NDSF) undergo periodical camping where scientific methods of training would be applied.

Sir Itiako Ikpokpo, the Co-Chairman of the Main Organising Committee (MOC) of the festival, dropped the hint at a media parley with journalists covering the games and said over 60 athletes have already been spotted as at Day 4.

“This festival is not about who came first or who won gold. Our scouts are looking out for hints of potential, quality that can be groomed for future success,” Ikpokpo responded to a question about objectives of the festival.

He said the scouts made up of coaches, former athletes and scouts have so far submitted 64 names and most of them were not those that came first or second.

“We seek to set up camps for the identified athletes with a view to putting them through scientific research-based training supervised by certified coaches,” added Ikpokpo who is the lead consultant for the project.

“The real work is not this festival, it is to design and implement the plan to nurture the talents discovered here to go on and replace those who have been representing Nigeria,” he added.

Sponsored by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as part of its mandate to improve living conditions of people of the nine mandate states, the NDSF had about 3,000 athletes and 500 officials competing in 17 sports.

It began on April 1 and will end on April 8 in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

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Niger Delta Sports Festival holds Golf Kitty as Cultural Expo fever spreads in Uyo

Managing Consultant of the Niger Delta Sports Festival, Sir Itiako Ikpokpo, teed off the Golf Kitty organised in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

This is even as the organisers rev up preparations for the Cultural Expo with the stage being rigged and rehearsals commenced.

Held at the Ibom Golf and Country Club on Saturday (April 5) morning, on the sidelines of the sports competitions, the event is part of the community engagement activities of the festival to foster social networking.

Over 130 golfers were in the kitty with members of the Main and Local Organising Committees of the Niger Delta Sports Festival in attendance.

“The NDSF project sponsored by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was designed to achieve multipurpose objectives of discovering and nurturing athletes, foster regional integration and engaging our host community.

“We have also provided opportunity for games demonstration towards bringing them in when the next edition holds. Cricket and Rugby are such games and we will keep redesigning the festival concept to accommodate more sports”, Ikpokpo told journalists at the event.

The festival also incorporated a Cultural Expo that will hold on April 7 and a number of upcoming entertainers from the nine mandate states will be on parade for comedy, music and masters of ceremony.

Edi Lawani, the country’s leading entertainment impresario said the Cultural Expo is a community engagement platform to provide the people of Akwa Ibom State, the festival community and tourists a time to wind down.

“Over 40 artistes will be on parade as we provide music, comedy, dance and food court for everyone in Uyo to feel the sports festival atmosphere outside the competition venues and make new social and business friends”, the thickly Lawani said donning his trademark shorts and backpack.

“Just as the NDSF is poised to discover new talents in sports, the cultural expo of the NDSF is equally designed to give a boost to and uplift young upcoming talents in the creative industry”, Lawani further stated.

Established talents like Comedian Destalker and singer Humblesmith are billed to perform to give inspiration and mentorship to the assembled young talents.

He said emphasis has also been placed on gender inclusiveness as there are female artistes, female Disc Jockeys and a female red-carpet host who are set take their place of pride at the event.

The Expo night which holds at the popular Unity Park also known as the Christmas Village, will enjoy the full complement of exotic show lighting display and large screen format projection.

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Govt Should Give Annual Grants To Nigerian Clubsides – Sanmi Doherty

Stakeholders of Nigerian football opined that governments at all levels should completely hands off sponsorship or ownership of football clubs in Nigeria.

According to some aficionados, the state-owned clubs have not thrived or perform better than privately owned clubs in recent times.

And yet, another strong voice in the fortunes of Nigerian football has joined the fray, albeit from a fresher angle.

Speaking in a recent interview, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ikorodu City Football club, Sanmi Doherty, admonished the federal government to establish a football trust fund that would empower the clubs to operate in line with the global best practices in world football. He added that Nigerian clubs would be able to compete favourably with their counterparts on the continent.

“I think government should only provide the facilities the enabling environment for the clubs. I think we can also have a trust fund fir Nigerian clubs. Tell me, why can’t the federal government earmark certain amounts of money as annual grants to help the clubs playing in the league?

“You know we’re not only promoting football, we’re also empowering the youths and using football to curb restiveness amongst the youths.

” Football is big business and capital intensive. For instance, if I know that I’m going to receive maybe N3billion from the government as my annual allocation, I can conveniently go for the best players, pay them very well, and ensure they get the conducive environment to ply their trades professionally and of course, the desired results will come,” the youthful club owner enthused confidently.