Newly appointed France coach Zinédine Zidane said he hopes jailed French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes can return home, thrusting a politically sensitive Algeria-related case into the spotlight.
At his introductory news conference as French coach, Zidane was asked about Gleizes, a French freelance sports journalist who was sentenced in Algeria to seven years in prison for doing his job as a football reporter in the breakaway Kabylie region.
“We hope he can return,” Zidane said, after Gleizes’ family publicly appealed to figures from the football world, including the former France captain, to support the journalist’s case.
The issue has already surfaced on football’s biggest stage. The case was raised during a FIFA World Cup-related press conference, reflecting growing concern within football circles over the journalist’s detention and prosecution.
Gleizes, 36, was arrested in May 2024 after travelling to Algeria to report on football, including a story on the historic JS Kabylie club.
According to rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Algerian authorities accused him of entering the country on a tourist visa, “glorifying terrorism” and possessing publications deemed harmful to the national interest.
RSF has rejected the allegations as unfounded and said the case criminalizes routine journalistic work.
“Christophe Gleizes is imprisoned simply for doing his job as a journalist,” RSF has said, calling for his immediate release and describing the prosecution as a serious attack on press freedom.
