As the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaches, the detention of French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes has escalated into a diplomatic and athletic flashpoint, exposing not only an alarming manipulation of the judiciary by the Algerian regime but also underscoring a broader assault on civil liberties.
On 3 December 2025, the third-ranking official of FIFA, Kevin Lamour, made a rare and highly symbolic appearance in a Tizi‑Ouzou appeals court session to support Gleizes, a highly significant gesture signaling that the matter transcends an isolated press freedom case and has morphed into a global sporting concern.
Involving FIFA directly in a national legal proceeding underlines the severity of the situation and its implications for Algeria’s reputation on the world stage.
Arrested in May 2024, Gleizes received a seven-year sentence on charges of “glorifying terrorism” and “possession of propaganda,” offenses which rest primarily on a routine report about the football club JS Kabylie and an interview with its president.
No evidence of extremist activity or incitement accompanies these charges. His lawyer Emmanuel Daoud said the accusations are baseless, politically motivated, and amount to weaponizing the judiciary.
French officials, including former president François Hollande, have personally appealed to Algerian leaders without success, warning that the timing, as the World Cup nears, is politically disastrous for the regime.
FIFA’s relentless scrutiny and FIFA-led efforts have already secured visas and visit permissions for Gleizes’s family, while debates are ongoing on the possibility of suspending Algeria’s national team.
The arrest of Gleizes takes place at a context Algeria intensifies its crackdown on independent voices. The government has enforced a near-total media blackout, effectively barring international journalists and agencies from entering or reporting within its borders, a measure aimed at preventing external scrutiny. Domestically, vague and sweeping anti‑terror and “false news” statutes are increasingly deployed to stifle dissent, marginalize critics, and suppress objective coverage.
Key to Algeria’s anxiety is the unrest in the Kabylie region. Historically restive and culturally and linguistically distinct, Kabylie has seen a surge in support for independence. The Movement for Self‑Determination of Kabylie (MAK) has declared independence during a conference in France.
Algerian authorities have branded the Europe-based MAK as a “terrorist” organization. Hundreds of peaceful activists and cultural figures have been detained under bogus counter‑terrorism laws. The arrest of Gleizes, based on his presence in Tizi‑Ouzou and, highlights the regime’s strategy of branding peaceful dissent as terror.
