Mbesuma to return to Downs

Mbesuma left the country at 13h00 today aboard a South African Airways Airlink flight from Ndola and was seen off by his local manager Nathan Chanda.

Speaking to KickOff.com before his departure, Mbesuma said he was attending to a family problem and that is why he delayed his return to South Africa. He did not elaborate further.

Mbesuma is likely to face disciplinary action for not returning to Mamelodi Sundowns on time after featuring for the Zambia national team in last Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Togo in the 2010 World Cup\Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at Konkola Stadium in Chililabombwe.

According to a source, Mbesuma, who signed a three-year deal with Sundowns last month, was initially set to have left the country on Friday after calling Sundowns’ technical director Ted Dumitru to ask for permission so that he could attend to family problems in his hometown Luanshya.

His local manager, Nathan Chanda said as a breadwinner, Mbesuma had some family problems to deal with as he had been away from his hometown Luanshya for over a year.

“Collins is a breadwinner for his family and had some issues to sort out since he has been away from Luanshya for over a year. He had, however, informed his club about his delay to join the club,” he said.

When contacted to confirm on which day Mbesuma was supposed to return to South Africa, Zambia national team manager Hayden Dingwall said he was in the dark as he had not seen his return ticket.

Mbesuma is notorious for not returning to his base after featuring for Zambia.