Utibe Ekoson
A leading American sports reporter, who last month had a run-in with Qatar’s World Cup organizers over a rainbow LGBTQ shirt, died while covering a tense quarter-final match yesterday.
Grant Wahl, 48, helped build soccer’s popularity in the United States through his vivid reporting for Sports Illustrated, CBS Sports and other media.
Wahl collapsed in the press tribune during Friday’s Argentina-Netherlands game.
The Wall Street Journal said he suffered a suspected heart attack.
Wahl’s wife Celine Gounder, a renowned epidemiologist, said on Twitter she is in complete shock.
A Qatar organising committee spokesperson said he received immediate emergency medical treatment on site, which continued as he was transferred by ambulance to Hamad General Hospital.
Organisers did not mention an incident just before the November 21 match between the United States and Wales when Wahl was stopped as he entered the stadium for wearing a rainbow shirt in support of LGBTQ rights.
Widespread tributes were paid to the journalist who had been covering his eighth World Cup, starting with the 1994 tournament in the United States.
Wahl joined Sports Illustrated, then the leading US sports publication, in 1996 to report on soccer. He remained at the magazine until 2020, joining CBS Sports a year later.
