DOHA (QATAR): American football journalist Grant Wahl has died while covering the ongoing World Cup in Qatar’s Doha. During the match between Argentina and Netherlands on Saturday, he suffered ‘acute distress’ due to which he died. He was 49
According to Reuters, the American Soccer Association responded to Grant’s death, saying that the news of Wall’s death was “heartbreaking.” American journalist
Wahl reportedly collapsed while covering the Argentina-Netherlands game and was taken to a hospital. It was unclear he died.
Heartbreaking video from Grant Wahl’s brother. You hope that Grant dying in Qatar is just an awful coincidence, and that he died of natural causes. But the timing raises many questions pic.twitter.com/MU4BHFjhA0
— Tom Hunsicker (@TomSportsWUSA9) December 10, 2022
His wife has also responded by saying on Twitter that she is in ‘shock’.
Wall was a reporter for the American magazine Sports Illustrated but after that he started his own online publishing platform Substack. On Friday, he was tweeting about the Netherlands-Argentina match till the first half.
His agent, Tim Scanlan, told Reuters that Wall “suffered some kind of acute distress at the start of extra minutes” in the quarter-final match.
Scanlan said that attempts were made to save Wall in the press box, but he died before he could reach a local hospital.
His brother Eric Wahl suspected four play, particularly in light of the fact that Grant Wahl was wearing a rainbow T-shirt. The rainbow symbol represents support for the LGBTQ community, and homosexuality is illegal in Qatar.
Eric Wahl posted a video on Instagram on Friday in which he said, “My name is Eric Wahl. I live in Seattle, Washington. I am Grant Wahl’s brother. I’m gay. I’m the reason he wore the rainbow shirt to the World Cup. My brother was healthy. He told me he received death threats. I do not believe my brother just died. I believe he was killed. And I just beg for any help.”
Grant Wahl wrote on Monday on his website, “My body finally broke down on me. Three weeks of little sleep, high stress and lots of work can do that to you. What had been a cold over the last 10 days turned into something more severe on the night of the USA-Netherlands game, and I could feel my upper chest take on a new level of pressure and discomfort. I didn’t have Covid (I test regularly here), but I went into the medical clinic at the main media centre today, and they said I probably have bronchitis. They gave me a course of antibiotics and some heavy-duty cough syrup, and I’m already feeling a bit better just a few hours later. But still: No bueno.”