Collins Mbesuma's dream move to Portsmouth hit a snag on Tuesday when he was refused a work permit by the British Home Office.
One of the Home Office requirements for granting a work permit is that an overseas player's country should have been regular in the Fifa World top 70 over two years.
Zambia are currently 73rd in the Fifa World magazine.
Yet if the ruling is a blow to Mbesuma's chances of playing in the English Premiership, it is by no means final.
| 'Playing for United has been my childhood dream' |
Portsmouth are appealing the decision, and are confident they can persuade the authorities to change their minds.
They also hope the Football Association can also show some leniency.
Continues Below ↓
Nigerian Yakubu Aiyegbeni, in spite of not playing a requisite amount of games for his country, succeeded earlier this year in obtaining a work permit on appeal to play for Premiership's Middlesborough next season.
Mbesuma's appeal is to be heard next week Thursday.
In the meantime, the former Kaizer Chiefs star has been talking delightedly about his move and his ultimate desire to play for the huge Manchester United.
"Playing for United has been my childhood dream," he told Sky Sports.
"I will work hard to make an impact in the Premiership to ensure I move on to play for United."
"What I really wanted was somewhere to start from," added the prolific striker in the Times of Zambia.
"It's always difficult to find a starting point.
"At Portsmouth I will first try to get myself into the team. With hard work, results will show."
It would be a terrible shame if it all ended before the "hard work" could even begin.
Meanwhile, another Kaizer Chief star, Jabu Pule, is free, from the end of this month, to join any club he wishes.
Yet whether anyone will take him on remains to be seen.
SV Mattersburg chairperson Martin Pucher confirmed this week that the Austrian club were letting Pule go for nothing.
"On behalf of the Sportvereinigung Mattersburg I confirm that Jabu Pule has left SV Mattersburg," said Pucher.
"His contract ends on 30th July 2005. After that Pule is free to join another club."
There is no doubting Pule's talent as a player, but it is the baggage he comes with that is likely to put off other clubs from signing him.
After all, Pule's career in Austria effectively ended earlier this year after he was caught drunk driving.
One man who has found a club, albeit a lower league one, meanwhile, is former Bafana striker George Koumantarakis, who has signed for German Second Division side SPVgg Greuter Förth.
- This article was originally published on page 20 of The Star on July 19, 2005
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
