The plight of a French journalist detained in Algeria took centre stage at the 2026 Ballon d’Or ceremony in London on Monday.
Hosts Thierry Henry and Kate Scott paused the awards to dedicate the evening to Christophe Gleizes, the 37-year-old sports journalist who has spent one year, three months and 27 days in detention.
Gleizes, who writes for So Foot and Society magazines, travelled to Algeria in May 2024 to report on JS Kabylie, the popular football club based in Tizi Ouzou in the Kabylie region.
He was later arrested and charged with glorifying terrorism and possessing publications harmful to national interest, over his alleged contacts with a JSK official linked to the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK), which Algeria designated a terrorist organisation in 2021.
In June 2025, a court in Tizi Ouzou sentenced him to seven years in prison, a verdict that was upheld on appeal in December 2025.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has maintained that his contacts were purely journalistic and that some occurred in 2015 and 2017, years before the ban. The group says his case represents a crackdown on press freedom.
During the ceremony, organisers displayed his photo on the big screen alongside the hashtag #FreeGleizes, drawing global attention to his continued detention.
RSF has announced plans to stage a solidarity football match on November 11 to mark his 500th day in custody.
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