Bafana Bafana newcomer Bradley Cross was prevented from responding to a question about United States President Donald Trump’s claims of a white genocide in South Africa.
The 24 year old Kaizer Chiefs defender, the only player from his club to make the final World Cup squad, attended a media briefing following the team announcement. One journalist asked about the diplomatic tensions between the US and South Africa, specifically seeking Cross’s opinion on Trump’s comments about white genocide.
Before Cross could answer, a SAFA official intervened, instructing the media to keep questions focused on football and avoid politics. The official said, let’s keep it football and not get into politics.
The white genocide narrative has been widely fact checked and debunked. During a May meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa, Trump showed outdated video footage from a 2020 protest, falsely claiming white crosses along a roadside represented burial sites of murdered white farmers. A South African court has since ruled that claims of a white genocide are unfounded.
Cross was also asked about social media criticism from Kaizer Chiefs fans over the lack of players in the World Cup squad. He responded that he does not focus on social media and prefers to stick to what he can control, adding that he just works hard and looks ahead.
Cross is the only Kaizer Chiefs player and the only white player in the current Bafana squad. Other Amakhosi players, including Brandon Petersen, Thabiso Monyane and Lebo Maboe, were named in the preliminary list but did not make the final cut.