Lusaka — The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) on Friday launched an inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse within the women's game.
Accusations on social media claim that some players were selected to play in the national team after allegedly being asked to give favours to unnamed officials in the football association.
"Although at FAZ we have no record of official complaints brought from anyone on the allegations, we consider the allegations very serious and have opened an inquiry into the matter," the federation's secretary general Adrian Kashala said in a statement.
"We shall collaborate with the Zambian police and other stakeholders in dealing with this matter," he added.
The association asked anyone with information about sexual abuse among the "Shepolopolo" national team's players to report this to the association.
"We have since written to the Zambian police to invite anyone with evidence to help with investigations. The nation shall be notified of the outcome of the inquiries once concluded. Until then, we shall provide no further comment," Kashala said.
Zambia reached the women's Africa Cup of Nations' semi-finals in July and made history winning the COSAFA Women's Championship this month.
Zambia, South Africa, Morocco and Nigeria are the African qualifiers for the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
AFP