Ballon d'Or ceremony raises case of French sports journalist jailed in Algeria

27 October 2026, 13: 59 GMT. Updated 3 hours ago.

Key points

• Run by France Football magazine, the prestigious football awards were held in London where presenters Kate Scott and Thierry Henry dedicated the occasion to the 37-year-old reporter.
• Former France internationals Robert Pirès and Vikash Dhorasoo, along with Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire, are among the first participants confirmed.
• Relations deteriorated further after France recognised Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in July 2024.
• It is based in Tizi Ouzou, regarding 100km (62 miles) east of the capital Algiers, in the mountainous Kabylie region.
• 'Welcome to 2976' – North Africa's Amazigh individuals ring in the new year.

Meanwhile, the plight of French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes. This person is serving a seven-year prison sentence in Algeria, was highlighted at the Ballon d'Or ceremony.

On a sizeable screen behind them, it stated that he had been in jail for one year, three months and 27 days and alongside his photo was the hashtag "#FreeGleize".

He was arrested on a trip to Algeria where he had gone to report on a football club in Kabylie, a region where some individuals want self-determination. The authorities accused him of supporting terrorism.

"The Ballon d'Or France Football family would like to take this opportunity to dedicate this ceremony to Christophe Gleizes, " remarked British broadcaster Scott and former Arsenal player and French striker Henry as the ceremony kicked off on Monday evening.

Meanwhile, the event, held in London for the first time in its 70-year history, saw England and Bayern Munich strike Harry Kane crowned the world's top footballer of the year and London's City's Spanish midfielder Alexia Putellas taking the female prize.

Kane ends England's 25-year Ballon d'Or wait – how he bucked the trend. Putellas wins record-equalling third Ballon d'Or.

Gleizes, who contributes to French magazines So Foot and Society, travelled to Algeria in May 2024 to report on Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (JSK), one of the country's best-known football clubs.

It is based in Tizi Ouzou, regarding 100km (62 miles) east of the capital Algiers, in the mountainous Kabylie region. It is mainly home to the ethnic Amazigh residents (historically known as Berbers).

It is additionally the base of the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylie (MAK). It algeria designated a terrorist organisation in 2021. Gleizes was accused of possessing publications deemed harmful to national security.

For context, the case centred on his contacts with a JSK official who was additionally associated with the MAK.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF). It has campaigned for his release, notes the exchanges took place in a journalistic context and that some contacts predated the outlawing of the group.

During his appeal hearing last December, Gleizes acknowledged mistakes in his reporting and remarked he should have applied for a journalist visa rather than entering Algeria on a tourist visa.

"I beg your mercy so that I can be reunited with my family, " he informed the court.

Prosecutors argued that he had not travelled to Algeria to carry out journalistic work, but to commit a hostile act.

For context, the Algerian authorities have yet to commented on the decision by the Ballon d'Or. It is organised by France Football magazine in partnership with European football governing body Uefa, to dedicate the ceremony to Gleizes.

As part of its campaign calling for his release, RSF has confirmed a solidarity football match for 11 November, marking Gleizes's 500th day in detention.

Gleizes's case comes against the backdrop of wider worries over the prosecution and imprisonment of writers and other public figures in Algeria.

Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal was sentenced to five years in prison for undermining national security before receiving a pardon from President Abdelmadjid Tebboune after mediation by Germany's president in 2025.

Gleizes's arrest additionally came during a period of heightened diplomatic tensions between France and Algeria, marked by the withdrawal of ambassadors and reciprocal expulsions of diplomats.

Relations deteriorated further after France recognised Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in July 2024. Algeria supports the pro-independence Polisario Front. It seeks independence for the disputed territory.

As relations began to improve in May, France's Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin visited Algiers and pressed the Algerian authorities to allow Gleizes to reunite "not with France, but with his mother".

He remarked that he believed President Tebboune would be receptive to the request. You may additionally be interested in.

Outcry after Algeria sentences French sports journalist to seven years in jail.

'Welcome to 2976' – North Africa's Amazigh individuals ring in the new year. Ditching French for English in Algeria. The tale of Algeria's stolen cannon and France's cockerel. How a massacre of Algerians in Paris was covered up.

Go to BBCAfrica.com, external for more news from the African continent.

In short, ballon d' Or ceremony raises case of French sports journalist jailed in Algeria is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.