Yassine Bounou Did Not Recently Make This Statement About Speaking in Arabic

12th December 2022

Yassine Bounou Did Not Recently Make This Statement About Speaking in Arabic

The statement dates back to January 2022 (Getty)

The Claim

Yassine Bounou, the Moroccan team’s goalkeeper, recently refused to speak any language other than Arabic saying: "It is not my problem that you don't speak Arabic and you didn't bring translators."

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Emerging story

Social media users recently shared a claim alleging that Yassine Bounou, the Moroccan team’s goalkeeper, refused to speak any language other than Arabic during the press conference that followed the match against Portugal on December 10 .

According to the claim, Bounou said: "It is not my problem that you don't speak Arabic and you didn't bring translators."

Yassin Bono angered the journalists at the press conference because he did not want to respond except in #Arabic despite his knowledge of English, French and Spanish.

Bono: "Not my problem that you don't speak Arabic and you didn't bring translators"#Morocco #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/dPU6dgds4v
— Atir Hassan (@a_t_i_r) December 11, 2022

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Misbar’s Analysis

Misbar investigated the circulating claim and found it to be misleading.

During the press conference following Morocco’s match against Portugal, Yassine Bounou spoke in Moroccan Darija (the Moroccan Arabic dialect), but he did not make the circulating statement.

Yassine Bounou Refused to Speak In English Or French

Following the match between Morocco and Comoros, which was held in Cameroon in January 2022, Yassine Bounou refused to speak any language other than Arabic and criticized the organizers for not hiring translators.

Morocco vs. Portugal

The claim was circulated after the Moroccan national team, guarded by Bouno, beat its Portuguese counterpart 1-0 on Saturday. Morocco’s team became the first Arab and African team to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Throughout the 2022 World Cup, social media accounts and sports specialists praised the Moroccan goalkeeper, Yassine Bounou, who kept his net clean and only conceded one goal.

Bounou speaks three foreign languages fluently: Spanish, English, and French. However, he usually speaks Arabic (Moroccan dialect) at press conferences. Many consider this to be reflective of his pride in his mother tongue.