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There’s an empty chair in Mexico City with a name on it. FIFA President Gianni Infantino reserved a seat at his pre-World Cup press conference for Christophe Gleizes, a French sports journalist who has been locked up in Algeria since May 2024. He can’t use it, obviously. He’s serving a seven-year prison sentence.
The gesture is striking for an organization not exactly known for its human rights track record. FIFA also granted Gleizes full accreditation for the entire 2026 World Cup, a credential he cannot physically present. Press freedom organizations have responded positively, viewing the move as a vital act of solidarity that amplifies Gleizes’ case on the largest possible sporting stage.
Who is Christophe Gleizes and why is he in prison
Gleizes was arrested on May 28, 2024, while reporting on JS Kabylie, an Algerian football club. Specifically, he was researching and reporting on the club’s history in the Kabylia region. Algerian authorities charged him with terrorism-linked offenses after he allegedly interacted with members of the banned separatist group, the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK).
In June 2025, a court handed down a seven-year prison sentence. That sentence was upheld by an Algerian appeals court in December 2025. By May 2026, Gleizes dropped a further appeal, reportedly in hopes of securing a presidential pardon instead.
He is the only French journalist currently imprisoned anywhere in the world.
What FIFA actually did
On June 11, 2026, FIFA officially accredited Gleizes for the World Cup. The accreditation covers the full tournament. Infantino reserved the empty seat at his press conference in Mexico City, referred to the chair as representative of the detained journalist, and called publicly for his release. Infantino also invited Gleizes’ parents to attend the France-Senegal match.
Infantino highlighted Gleizes as the only detained sports journalist globally and expressed hope for his release through a presidential pardon.
The broader press freedom context in Algeria
Gleizes’ case doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Algeria has faced sustained criticism from international press freedom watchdogs over its treatment of journalists and media workers. Terrorism-related charges have been a recurring tool used against reporters and activists in the country, a pattern that human rights organizations have documented extensively.
The charge of glorifying terrorism applied to a sports journalist covering a football club raises obvious questions about proportionality. Gleizes was researching a football club’s history, not covering politics or armed conflict. His imprisonment is seen as emblematic of a broader governmental crackdown on journalism, particularly opposition voices in Algeria.
What this means going forward
Gleizes’ decision to drop his legal appeal in favor of pursuing a presidential pardon suggests his team believes the political path is more promising. FIFA’s intervention could strengthen that calculus by raising the reputational cost for Algerian authorities of keeping him locked up.
Gleizes remains in an Algerian prison. The seat remains empty. And for the duration of the 2026 World Cup, every press room credential list will include the name of a man who cannot be there.
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