Grant Wahl, 48, died while covering the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, according to a video broadcast Friday evening by his brother.
Prior to the USA-Wales match, Wahl was held for wearing a rainbow flag shirt (seen above). In Qatar, same-sex relationships and sexual activity are crimes punishable by stoning to death.
According to Wahl’s gay brother Eric, the journalist was “healthy” prior to collapsing during the quarterfinal encounter between the Netherlands and Argentina in Doha.
Eric reportedly told the New York Post that he believes his brother was slain in a since-deleted Instagram video. He stated, “I am the reason he wore the rainbow shirt to the world cup.” “I do not believe my brother passed away recently; I feel he was murdered.”
Wahl, who made his mark at Sports Illustrated between 1996 and 2021, covered American and international soccer on his Substack, CBS Sports, and NBC News.
According to Wahl’s agency, the journalist experienced severe distress throughout the quarterfinal match’s last minutes. During extra time, he reportedly collapsed backwards in his place in the media tribune at Lusail Iconic Stadium, according to U.S. reporters seated nearby. Emergency services personnel came swiftly. His coworkers were later informed of his passing.
Rafael Cores, a journalist with Univision, remarked, “He was working on his piece on his laptop around four minutes before the end of overtime.” “He was laughing at a joke we had just seen on Twitter minutes before. I find it unbelievable. My heartfelt condolences to the family of Grant Wahl.”
Grant Wahl indicated that he wasn’t feeling well in the previous day’s episode of his podcast Futbol with Grant Wahl.
“My body eventually broke down on me,” he claimed. Three weeks of inadequate sleep, severe stress, and excessive work can have such an effect.
He continued, “What had been a cold for the previous ten days morphed into something more serious the night of the United States-Netherlands game, and I felt a new degree of pressure and discomfort in my upper chest.”
“Today, I visited the major media center’s medical facility, where they diagnosed me with bronchitis,” he stated, verifying that he tested negative for COVID-19. “They prescribed me a course of antibiotics and a strong cough syrup, and after only a few hours I’m already beginning to feel better. But nonetheless: “Not good.”
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