Jailed French Journalist's Family Seeks Zidane's Help: 'It Would Be Great...'

Last Updated:July 04, 2025, 14:11 IST

Sports journalist Christophe Gleizes got seven years in Algeria for an interview tied to a banned separatist group. His family seeks support from the sports community and Zidane.

French football legend, Zinedine Zidane. (AP)

The family of a French sports journalist, sentenced to seven years in prison in Algeria, is seeking assistance from the sporting community and football legend Zinédine Zidane.

Christophe Gleizes, a 36-year-old freelance sportswriter, received his sentence last week due to an interview with a football official linked to a banned separatist movement, in a case that rights groups argue criminalises standard reporting.

Gleizes, who had contributed to the magazines So Foot and Society, travelled to Algeria last year to cover JS Kabylie, the country’s historically dominant football team.

He was arrested and placed under judicial supervision over a year ago for entering Algeria without a proper visa, “glorifying terrorism," and “possessing propaganda publications harmful to the national interest," according to Reporters Without Borders.

Thibaut Bruttin, Reporters Without Borders’ director general, criticised the authorities’ decision to hold Gleizes for 13 months before sentencing, calling it an example of “absurd judicial control" and described the seven-year sentence as “nonsensical." The press freedom group stated that Gleizes planned to appeal the sentences on Monday.

What did the relatives say?

Gleizes’ relatives appeared on French television on Thursday night, urging sports figures to support his case.

“It would be great if Zinédine Zidane were to get involved in this fight," said Gleizes’ father-in-law, Francis Godard, on France 2 channel. “After all, it’s a fight for both freedom of the press and the world of football. Journalists are mobilised, as we know, but we would like the sporting world to be just as mobilised. Christophe is a sports journalist and is therefore interested in the business of sport. This concerns the world of sport very directly."

Gleizes was tried and convicted, although prosecutors have not publicly announced the charges and Algerian officials have not commented on the case.

However, authorities have previously faced criticism from rights advocates, who claim Algeria uses anti-terrorism laws to suppress political speech.

Reporters Without Borders indicated that the charges against Gleizes resulted from his contact with the head of a football club who was also a member of a political movement that Algeria designated as a terrorist group four years ago.

The French journalist’s sentence comes as relations between France and Algeria reach new levels of hostility, with the two countries clashing over migration, extradition, trade, and France’s change in position regarding the status of the disputed Western Sahara.

(With AP Inputs)

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