France & South Korea Face Media Tensions at World Cup

France are furious.

Mbappe went down in the area. Looked like a foul.

The ref didn't give it.

He checked the VAR monitor and still decided it wasn't a foul.

Not sure about that one.

I think Senegal are very lucky.

In the press box at every France game at this World Cup, a seat is being left empty to highlight the plight of a French sports journalist who is in prison in Algeria.

Christophe Gleizes was jailed in 2025 for seven years for supporting terrorism after he said he was pursuing a story for Paris-based football magazine, So Foot.

French journalists' unions have called on Algeria to release Gleizes, whose mother Sylvie has travelled to the World Cup to highlight her son's case.

As well as a seat in the press box, a chair in each France news conference is being left empty to highlight his case.

Journalist Vincent Duluc, who works for French daily sports newspaper L'Equipe, asked a question at a news conference to France boss Didier Deschamps on behalf of Gleizes on Monday.

"I hope for his sake and his family's that he can be here as soon as possible and ask his questions himself," Deschamps replied.

South Korea's preparations for Thursday's World Cup match against Mexico have been overshadowed by a rift between the players and the country's media following disparaging comments about captain Son Heung-min.

The spat reportedly led to the resignation of one of the team's media officers on Tuesday. The national team has yet to confirm the resignation, which has been reported by some of the media covering the South Korean squad in Guadalajara.

Access for the media had apparently been cut off after the comments against Son were caught on camera. Players reportedly refrained from speaking to South Korean media outside official World Cup commitments, and scheduled interviews with players were canceled.

Mexican media said there was a meeting between the team's media officers and the South Korean media to discuss the incident.

There was no media access scheduled on Tuesday. The pre-match news conference is scheduled for Wednesday.

The South Korean soccer association said it regretted "the inappropriate remarks made by some media personnel during the national football team's training at the Guadalajara base camp." The organization added the comments caused "great shock and disappointment" within the squad.

The incident occurred during an open training session on June 7, days before South Korea beat the Czech Republic 2-1 in its first World Cup match.

The 33-year-old Son, running with teammates, was mocked by unidentified media personnel over his military record in footage recorded by broadcaster JTBC, South Korea's official rights holder for the tournament. The video was later leaked, prompting a strong reaction on social media.

By helping South Korea win gold at the 2018 Asian Games, Son earned an exemption from the mandatory 21-month military service required of able-bodied men.

Son later completed alternative duties, including a three-week military training course in 2020 and community service.

The federation said in Monday's statement that it "will continue to prioritize the protection of the squad and strive to create a healthy media environment."

Son, who left Tottenham for Los Angeles FC a year ago, missed chances in the victory over the Czech Republic, with Hwang In-beom and Oh Hyeon-gyu scoring in Guadalajara.

South Korea plays again in Guadalajara on Thursday when it faces Mexico in Group A.