AWOL OJ is back home

WAYWARD Mamelodi Sundowns defender Mbulelo "OJ" Mabizela has returned to the club.

WAYWARD Mamelodi Sundowns defender Mbulelo "OJ" Mabizela has returned to the club.

Mabizela had left the club for two weeks without permission and missed two Premier league games.

He also failed to report for the Bafana camp ahead of the game against Malawi last Tuesday.

Earlier last week Sundowns technical director Ted Dumitru said the player had suffered a knee injury, which had been aggravated by taking a penalty in the Top Eight final against Kaizer Chiefs.

Yesterday Dumitru confirmed to The Times that Mabizela had started training with the club again. He said it would be some time before the player appeared before the club's disciplinary hearing.

Dumitru said: "The management is working on the date for the hearing and the rules of the club will apply in this case. We are going to the Macufe Cup and it would be difficult to find out when he is going to appear before the DC hearing."

Dumitru also said the player would not travel with the team to Bloemfontein for the annual Macufe Cup tournament this weekend.

The Sunday Times reported that Mabizela's career was in the balance because club owner Patrice Motsepe was understood to be "deeply disappointed in him because he hates irresponsible behaviour".

One of the best defenders to emerge in South African football, Mabizela is known for his Houdini acts. This was the second time he had gone missing at Downs. He also spent six months on the sidelines after being suspended by the SA Football Association for a doping offence in 2006.

The youngest man to captain Orlando Pirates to league glory in 2000 (he was 20) might just kiss his big bucks at Downs goodbye.

In 2003 Mabizela landed a dream transfer to Tottenham Hotspur, scoring a wonder goal on his English Premier League debut. But his contract was terminated early because his ill-discipline demons struck again.

Mabizela was also stripped of the Bafana captaincy, which he got at 21, making him the youngest captain in the history of the team.