Wisdom Mumba Chansa (April 17, 1964 – April 28, 1993) was a Zambian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who died in the 1993 air crash off the coast of

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

that killed 18 players of the Zambia national team.

Career

Chansa began his career with the youth team of Rhokana United, before moving to city rivals Power Dynamos in 1980 and quickly established himself in their side as an out-and-out striker before he adapted himself to a deeper lying role as second striker. Chansa became the first African, along with Pearson Mwanza and Derby Makinka, to play in the

Soviet Top League The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Higher League (russian: Чемпионат СССР по футболу: Высшая лига), served as the top division of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991. The professional top level ...

when they all signed for Pomir Dushanbe in 1989 after being spotted during their 4–0 win over

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

at the 1988 Olympics. Chansa's debut came on 2 October 1989 in an away match against

Torpedo Moscow Football Club Torpedo Moscow (russian: link=no, ФК "Торпедо" Москва, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow that was founded in 1924 and returned to the Russian Pre ...

, before appearing twice more, against

Rotor Volgograd SC Rotor Volgograd (russian: СK Ротор) is a Russian professional football club from the large city of Volgograd, Volgograd Oblast (formerly Stalingrad). The club will play in the third-tier Russian Football National League 2 in the 2022– ...

and

Metalist Kharkiv Football Club Metalist Kharkiv ( uk, Футбо́льний Клуб Металі́ст Ха́рків ) is a Ukrainian football club based in Kharkiv that plays in the Ukrainian First League during the 2021–22 season. It was revived 5 years ...

, before leaving at the conclusion of the

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season. Chansa returned to Power Dynamos following his Soviet experience, and was made captain before Power Dynamos became the first Zambian club side to win a continental cup when they beat Nigeria's BCC Lions in the

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

African Cup Winners' Cup The African Cup Winners' Cup was a football competition that started in 1975 and merged with the CAF Cup in 2004 to form the CAF Confederation Cup. It was a competition between the winning clubs of domestic cups in CAF-affiliated nations and was ...

final over two legs. In 1993 Chansa had signed for Dynamos in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

before his death in the plane crash that killed 18 players of the Zambia national team off the coast of Libreville, Gabon on 27 April 1993.

International career

Chansa made his international debut at junior level when he was instrumental in the Zambia's cup success in the regional U-20

COSAFA Cup The COSAFA Cup or COSAFA Senior Challenge Cup is an annual tournament for teams from Southern Africa organized by Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA), inaugurated after the ban against the Republic of South Africa had been ...

in 1983. Chansa made his debut for

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

in 1985, was called up to the

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

for the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, and was a permanent feature in the Zambian side until his death.

References

External links

* * 1964 births 1993 deaths Zambian men's footballers Zambian expatriate men's footballers Zambia men's international footballers CSKA Pamir Dushanbe players Soviet Top League players Olympic footballers for Zambia Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics 1986 African Cup of Nations players 1990 African Cup of Nations players 1992 African Cup of Nations players Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Gabon Expatriate men's footballers in the Soviet Union Power Dynamos F.C. players Men's association football midfielders Dynamos F.C. (South Africa) players Footballers killed in the 1993 Zambia national football team plane crash {{Zambia-footy-bio-stub