South Africa captain Ronwen Williams has called for criticism towards the team to be limited to just football and not beyond it. (Scroll down to watch video)
He made this call at a time where xenophobic attacks on reported illegal immigrants in South Africa have grown rampant in recent weeks leading many African nations affected.
The fallout from the attacks have led to widespread condemnation and a perceived lack of support for the Bafana Bafana at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. In Ghana, several football fans were captured celebrating the team’s 2-0 loss to Mexico.
Speaking ahead of South Africa’s game against Czechia on Thursday, June 18, Ronwen Williams appealed for the focus on the team to be about football and not politics.
“As Africa, we are one. We support each other in good and bad moments; we’ve got our own politics, we’ve got our own problems, we’ve got our fights that we deal with back home.”
“It does hurt because…I’ve been attacked obviously my country as well for things that are going on back home.”
“Players are human beings as well…for us, sometimes it gets a lot. You want to focus on doing your job which is being a footballer. Leave politics to the politicians…let us just play football, enjoy football and criticize for what happens on the field” Williams said.
🎥 🇬🇭 “In Africa, we are one. We support each other in both good and difficult moments. It hurts us because footballers are human beings too.”
Bafana Bafana captain Ronwen Williams calls on fans around the world to unite and avoid online criticism and backlash against players.… pic.twitter.com/JqVgqjcuih
— Citi Sports (@CitiSportsGHA) June 18, 2026
