Former Premier League player, Yannick Bolasie, has criticized Arsenal’s Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi following the Gunners’ 2-1 defeat to AFC Bournemouth.

He asserted that they were playing too conservatively, while goalkeeper David Raya was taking greater risks.

In a post on X, Bolasie remarked that Raya had more touches of the ball than the attacking players.

He further stated that both the players and the fans are overly focused on statistics, commenting, “All comes from Raya dancing on the ball like he has all game. When your back line is touching the ball more than any offensive players it’s a big problem, dead stats people get rated for these days.”

Raya attempted 49 passes during the match, successfully completing 38, whereas Rice managed 43 successful passes out of 50 attempts.

Zubimendi had only 38 attempted passes, with 29 completed, while the third midfielder, Kai Havertz, recorded 17 successful passes from 22 attempts.

Bolasie criticized the midfielders for their overly cautious play and stated, “Of course your pass rates gonna be 95% if you’re always passing backwards and side to side, same way wingers who don’t lose the ball aren’t trying to take on the full backs….safety first.

“Raya passing the ball more than Declan Rice or Zubimendi is the strange thing about football today, the players with the least attacking ability touching and passing the most.”

Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat has resulted in them missing the chance to extend their lead to 12 points over Manchester City.

They currently hold a nine-point advantage over the Cityzens, who have two games in hand, with the top two teams set to face each other next week.

Arsène Wenger’s proposed offside reform finally moves from the drawing board to the pitch. Starting April 4th, the new regulation will officially launch, with the Canadian league serving as the global testing ground.

The move, championed by FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development, aims to end “toenail” offsides and restore a clear advantage to attacking play.

What is the New Rule?

The current “any scoring part of the body” rule is being flipped on its head. Under the new “Daylight” rule:

To be ONSIDE: An attacker is considered onside if any part of their body that can score a goal is in line with the second-to-last defender.

To be OFFSIDE: The attacker must be completely past the defender. There must be visible “daylight” between the two players for the whistle to blow.

FIFA’s Objectives

In an official statement, FIFA outlined the reasoning behind the trial:

“This new rule should give attackers a slight advantage and help matches flow more smoothly. By reducing the number of marginal calls, we aim to encourage more goals and fewer VAR-induced celebrations-delays.”

Failing to comply and ‎holding on to the Trophy
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‎This will be a loss especially to the up and coming young Senegalese footballers who will be denied the chance to play football at the highest level.
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‎No Afcon from U17 to Senior both Women and Men
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‎And No Senegalese Clubs will be involved in both Fifa and CAF Competitions
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‎No Senegalese Players will be considered on Continental podium (Honors)
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‎Let Senegal hand over the trophy for peace sake and for the love of Football ⚽ they made a mistake by boycotting play and leave the field of play, they are all professionals and they know the rules. It is unfortunate.
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‎Even though the rulling is somehow unfair. Caf rules should be respected at the end of the day.

CAF Committee President “Justice Roli Daibo from Nigeria” has confirmed.
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The Senegalese Football Federation has rejected the decision of the Confederation of African Football Appeal Board awarding the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title to Morocco and confirmed it will challenge the ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Morocco were on Tuesday crowned champions of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after the Confederation of African Football Appeal Board overturned the result of the final against Senegal, ruling that the West African side forfeited the match following a walk-off during the game in Rabat on January 19.

CAF stated that “the Senegal national team is declared to have forfeited the final match of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025, with the result recorded as 3–0 in favour of the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football.”

The decision followed a protest by Morocco after chaotic scenes late in the final, when Senegal players briefly left the pitch after a disallowed goal and a penalty awarded to the hosts, an action the appeal board ruled fell under Articles 82 and 84 of the competition regulations on misconduct and forfeiture.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Fédération Sénégalaise de Football said it had taken note of the decision delivered by CAF’s Appeal Committee in case DC23316, which followed a complaint filed during match 52 of the TotalEnergies AFCON Morocco 2025 final between Senegal and Morocco.

“The Senegalese Football Federation has today taken note of the notification of the decision rendered on March 17, 2026 by the Appeals Committee of the Confederation of African Football, in the context of case DC23316,” the statement read.

The federation said the appeal board declared admissible the protest lodged by the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football and overturned the earlier decision of the CAF Disciplinary Board, citing a procedural flaw in the initial hearing.

“With this decision, the CAF Appeals Board declared the appeal of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation admissible and accepted it.

In doing so, the board overturned the decision rendered by the CAF Disciplinary Board, on the grounds that the appellant’s right to be heard had not been respected during the initial proceedings,” the FSF said.

According to the statement, the appeal committee ruled that the conduct of the Senegal national team fell under Articles 82 and 84 of the Africa Cup of Nations regulations, leading to the forfeiture decision.

“The Appeals Committee also determined that the conduct of the Senegalese team fell under Articles 82 and 84 of the Africa Cup of Nations Regulations.

“Consequently, CAF declared that the FSF had violated Article 82 and awarded the match by forfeit, with a recorded score of 3–0 in favor of the FRMF, in accordance with Article 84,” the federation stated.

Reacting to the verdict, the Senegalese federation criticised the decision, describing it as damaging to the credibility of African football.

“The Senegalese Football Federation denounces an unfair, unprecedented and unacceptable decision that discredits African football,” the statement added.

The federation confirmed that it would file an appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.

“To defend its rights and the interests of Senegalese football, the Federation will initiate, as soon as possible, an appeal procedure before the Court of Arbitration for Sport,” the statement said.

The FSF added that it remained committed to due process and would continue to inform the public as the case progresses.

“The FSF reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the values of integrity and sporting justice, and will keep the public informed of the follow-up to this matter,” the statement concluded.