Ballon d'Or ceremony raises case of French sports journalist jailed in Algeria

What the report says

BBC Africa reports that the Ballon d’Or ceremony in London drew attention to Christophe Gleizes, a 37-year-old French sports journalist who is serving a seven-year prison sentence in Algeria. Presenters Kate Scott and Thierry Henry used the opening of the France Football-run event to dedicate the night to him, with a message on screen calling for his release and noting how long he has been detained.

Gleizes, who writes for So Foot and Society, was arrested in May 2024 after travelling to Algeria to report on Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie, a football club based in Tizi Ouzou in the Kabylie region. Algerian authorities accused him of supporting terrorism and possessing material considered harmful to national security. The case has focused on his contacts with a club official said to have links to the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie, which Algeria banned as a terrorist organisation in 2021.

Reporters Without Borders has argued that the exchanges were part of normal journalistic work and that some predated the group’s outlawing. Gleizes told an appeal court last December that he had made mistakes and should have used a journalist visa rather than entering on a tourist visa. Prosecutors, however, said he was not in Algeria for reporting. The case comes amid broader tensions over press freedom and diplomacy between France and Algeria, and RSF is planning a solidarity football match in November to continue its campaign.