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.
