Somewhere in an Algerian prison, a French journalist now holds official press credentials for the biggest sporting event on Earth. Whether he’ll actually use them is the point.

FIFA issued World Cup accreditation to Christophe Gleizes on June 10, 2026, one day before the tournament’s opening match. The credential, numbered 00980549, assigns Gleizes to cover the 2026 FIFA World Cup for French football magazine So Foot across all three host nations: the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The announcement came via Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the press freedom organization that has been campaigning for his release since his arrest more than two years ago.

A football journalist jailed for covering football

Gleizes, 37, is a freelance journalist who was arrested on May 28, 2024, while reporting on JS Kabylie, a prominent Algerian football club. His crime, according to Algerian authorities, amounted to “glorifying terrorism” and possessing publications deemed harmful to Algeria’s national interests.

The charges stemmed from an interview Gleizes conducted with a club official who allegedly had ties to the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie, known by its French acronym MAK. The Algerian government classifies MAK as a terrorist organization. Gleizes was sentenced to seven years in prison in June 2025.

He appealed. It didn’t work. An Algerian court upheld the sentence in December 2025, leaving the journalist with essentially no legal recourse within Algeria’s judicial system.

FIFA’s unusual play

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has gone further than just signing off on the accreditation. He has voiced support for a potential presidential pardon for Gleizes, suggesting that diplomatic channels might offer the journalist’s best path to freedom now that his legal appeals have been exhausted.

The timing is deliberate. With the World Cup running from June 11 through July 19, 2026, Algeria’s treatment of a football journalist will be under an international spotlight for over five weeks.

Algeria’s press freedom problem

Gleizes traveled to Algeria’s Kabylie region legally on a tourist visa to report on JS Kabylie. The Amazigh (Berber) population there has long pushed for greater autonomy, and the government’s classification of the MAK independence movement as a terrorist organization has created a legal minefield for anyone reporting on the region’s politics, culture, or its football clubs.

RSF’s decision to announce the accreditation on the eve of the World Cup transforms what could have been a quiet diplomatic effort into a globally visible campaign.

The credential expires on July 19, when the World Cup final wraps up. Gleizes, barring a pardon, stays in his cell with roughly five more years on his sentence. The window for this particular form of pressure is exactly 38 days long.