Around forty personalities took part in a symbolic football match to demand the release of journalist Christophe Gleizes in Algeria
Detained for 500 days in Algeria, the So Press journalist received the support of numerous personalities during a symbolic match at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
Quick Look
A solidarity match was organized on November 11 at the foot of the Eiffel Tower by Reporters Without Borders and Paris City Hall to demand the release of Christophe Gleizes, a French journalist detained for 500 days in Algeria.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Christophe Gleizes, journalist from So Press, has been detained in Algeria for 500 days after being sentenced to seven years in prison for advocating terrorism.
A symbolic match to demand the release of Christophe Gleizes. At the foot of the Eiffel Tower, a solidarity match was organized on Wednesday, November 11, by the Reporters Without Borders association and the Paris town hall to continue to demand the release of the 37-year-old journalist from the So Press group, detained for 500 days in Algeria while he was reporting on the Jeunesse sportif de Kabylie football club.
In the evening, around forty personalities from the world of media, sport and culture gathered for a symbolic football match, after the journalist's family was received at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier in the day. Among them, the presenters Denis Brogniart and Nagui, the actor Denis Podalydès, the comedians Kheiron and Paul de Saint-Sernin, the singer Yannick Noah, the former footballers Vikash Dhorasoo and Robert Pirès, the mayor of Paris Emmanuel Grégoire and the journalist Elise Lucet. All participants wore jerseys bearing the image of the imprisoned journalist. Scarves bearing the message #FreeGleizes were also distributed.
So that “this injustice stops”
“We must mobilize and make noise to make Christophe exist outside his prison in Algeria,” declared Elise Lucet on franceinfo. "Show him that forgetting is not there. That would be the worst. If we can help, it's important to be present, to show that football and sport are mobilizing, that no one is running out of steam and that everyone is getting wet. I hope that can help this injustice to stop," reacted coach Rudi Garcia, speaking to RMC.
Christophe Gleizes was sentenced to seven years in prison with a committal warrant by the Tizi Ouzou court at the end of June 2025, for "apology of terrorism" and "possession of publications for the purpose of propaganda harming the national interest". The court decision was confirmed on appeal in early December 2025. The journalist, like his relatives and his employer, have always contested the facts with which he is accused. On Wednesday, the journalist's parents once again requested a presidential pardon from Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Request for presidential pardon addressed to Abdelmadjid Tebboune
Likely · Within weeks
Open Questions
- Will the Algerian president grant presidential pardon?
- What diplomatic action will be taken by France?
