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FIFA President Gianni Infantino has expressed hope that French journalist Christophe Gleizes, currently detained in Algeria, could be granted a presidential pardon.
Speaking on Wednesday in Mexico, on the eve of the opening of preparations for the 2026 World Cup, Infantino highlighted the journalist’s absence from the international football community.
“There is an empty seat, that of French journalist Christophe Gleizes, who is the only sports journalist imprisoned in the world,” he said.
He added that he hoped for “a great act of humanity” that would allow Gleizes to receive a presidential pardon and potentially attend the upcoming tournament.
Sports journalist Gleizes has been jailed in Algeria since May 2024.
The French sports journalist was sentenced to seven years in prison for alleged “advocacy of terrorism.”
In May, UN experts expressed serious concern about human rights violations in Algeria, including incommunicado detention, harassment, and intimidation of relatives of victims of enforced disappearances.
A statement from the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) said that Algeria’s regime is also allegedly implicated in acts of intimidation targeting relatives engaged in the search for their relatives, who are subject to enforced disappearances.
This is not the first time UN experts have raised alarm over Algerian human rights violations.
In 2023, UN experts also warned about the deteriorating human rights in Algeria due to the ongoing crackdown on activists, as well as civil society and human rights movements.
