US sports reporter dies suddenly while covering World Cup
A US sports reporter has died after collapsing suddenly at the World Cup. Grant Wahl, 48, fell to the ground as extra time began in the Argentina-Netherlands game on Friday night.Qatar’s World Cup organizers said on Saturday that Wahl “fell ill” in the press area, where he received “immediate medical treatment on site.”Early reports suggest he may have had a heart attack, but this has yet to be officially confirmed.Wahl was briefly detained by authorities in Qatar for wearing a rainbow shirt, in solidarity with the LGBT+ community earlier in the month.
Homosexuality is criminalised in Qatar. Tributes have poured in for the veteran sports correspondent, who wrote a book on David Beckham, a British footballer.
US Soccer said it was "heartbroken to learn" of Wahl's death. It praised Wahl’s “belief in the power of the game to advance human rights,” offering condolences to his wife Celine Gounder and their loved ones.Gounder responded to the US Soccer statement on Twitter, saying she was "in complete shock".Wahl wrote to subscribers of his internet newsletter that he had visited a clinic in Qatar earlier in the week. "My body is finally giving up on me," he wrote. "Three weeks with little sleep, a lot of stress and work can have that effect on you ...
I could feel my upper chest taking on a new level of pressure and discomfort." Qatar's World Cup organisers, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), paid tribute to Wahl's "enormous love of football" and offered condolences to his family, friends and media colleagues.Wahl, a former writer for Sports Illustrated who moved to the Substack online publishing platform, had been tweeting about the Netherlands-Argentina match earlier on Friday.His agent, Tim Scanlan, told.
