Complaints plague debutant Zambia before the Women’s Cup – 07/12/2023 – The World Is a Ball

One of eight debutant teams at the Women’s World Cup, Zambia are under the spotlight ahead of the start of the competition due to issues surrounding their coach and team captain.

The African team gained space in the sports news, almost simultaneously, because Bruce Mwape is being accused of coercing his subordinates to have sex with him and because doubts hover over Barbra Banda’s gender.

According to a report in the English The Guardian, Mwape, 63, is under investigation by FIFA after an athlete from the national team, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declared that “if he wants to sleep with someone, that someone has to say yes”. .

The newspaper, citing a source, says that the players feel intimidated to denounce the coach for fear of reprisals – such as cutting the team – and that the Football Association of Zambia (AFZ) has turned a blind eye to the case to try to preserve the selection image.

Zambia’s women’s national team accomplished a feat by qualifying for the World Cup – the men’s team has never been to the World Cup.

According to AFZ president Andrew Kamanga, the situation has been raised with the country’s police and FIFA to ensure that there are no accusations of the association “taking sides”.

FIFA, which controls world football, claimed internal policy not to pass on information about the episode, said the Guardian, and Mwape did not comment.

Banda, 23 and 1.80 m, leader of the field of the Zambian national team and by far the best player on the team, is in the hot seat for not passing a gender eligibility test that ruled her out of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations.

The German tabloid Bild highlighted the matter after the striker scored two goals in the 3-2 victory against Germany, current European runners-up, in a friendly in the German city of Fürth last week.

Ahead of the African Cup, the AFZ claimed “medical reasons” for Banda’s absence, but it was learned that an examination by the Confederation of African Football found that the athlete had elevated levels of testosterone, the main male sex hormone.

For the World Cup, the attacker is released to play because FIFA does not carry out this type of examination, which is the responsibility of each national federation.

That is, if the AFZ allows it, and no team protests and demands some action, Banda, who has been playing since 2020 at Shangai Shengli, in China, will act normally.

The Spanish newspaper Marca published on Monday (10) that Real Madrid almost signed the Zambian star in the middle of last year. It didn’t work out because she didn’t pass an exam taken by the club. The reason for the veto? High level of testosterone in the blood.

Zambia is in Group C of the World Cup hosted by Australia and New Zealand, with Spain, Japan and Costa Rica as opponents. The debut will be on the 22nd, against the Japanese, in the New Zealand city of Hamilton.

Oblivious to the controversies of the African team, Brazil, which has been training in Australia since last week, will play its first match in the World Cup on the 24th, against Panama. The other rivals in Group F are France and Jamaica.

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