Soccer reporter Grant Wahl died on Friday while covering the World Cup in Qatar. He was 49.
Wahl, among the most well known soccer journalists in the country, covered soccer on his own website grantwahl.com, as well as for CBS Sports. He previously was the longtime soccer reporter for Sports Illustrated.
Wahl was covering the World Cup matches between Croatia and Brazil, as well as the Netherlands and Argentina, prior to his death. He reportedly collapsed while covering the Netherlands-Argentina match.
NPR can confirm the death of longtime soccer sportswriter Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl). He died today in Doha, Qatar while covering the Argentina-Netherlands World Cup quarterfinal. Story to come.
— Russell Lewis (@rdlewis) December 10, 2022
US Soccer shared the news in a statement released on Friday night.
U.S. Soccer Statement On The Passing Of Grant Wahl: pic.twitter.com/CBp1mCK1mQ
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) December 10, 2022
Wahl’s wife Celine Gounder shared the following tweet:
I am so thankful for the support of my husband @GrantWahl's soccer family & of so many friends who've reached out tonight.
I'm in complete shock. https://t.co/OB3IzOxGlE
— Céline Gounder, MD, ScM, FIDSA 🇺🇦 (@celinegounder) December 10, 2022
“I am so thankful for the support of my husband @GrantWahl’s soccer family & of so many friends who’ve reached out tonight.
“I’m in complete shock.”
Wahl had mentioned on his most recent podcast that he had gone to a medical center twice because of health concerns. He said he was wearing himself down from his coverage and thought he had bronchitis.
Michael says Grant mentioned possible bronchitis on a recent pod
Here’s a link to that podcast https://t.co/PdSjcSdIiv https://t.co/wFC7zoVN5w
— Jack Settleman (@jacksettleman) December 10, 2022
Wahl also said there was “a lot of general sickness, coughing, colds,” among reporters at the World Cup.
“I can’t wait to be on the other side of what I have,” he said in the podcast, which was published on Thursday, a day before his death.
Wahl drew headlines on November 21 for wearing a rainbow shirt to a World Cup match. He was detained by security after refusing to remove the shirt.
Free to read: What happened when Qatar World Cup security detained me for 25 minutes for wearing a t-shirt supporting LGBTQ rights, forcibly took my phone and angrily demanded that I remove my t-shirt to enter the stadium. (I refused.) Story: https://t.co/JKpXXETDkH pic.twitter.com/HEjr0xzxU5
— Subscribe to GrantWahl.com (@GrantWahl) November 21, 2022
Wahl had also been critical of Qatar.
And factoring in his recent write ups of human rights and Qatari organizers not caring about migrant deaths it took to build the stadium. Super scary. pic.twitter.com/5f3pG9mZqo
— Hannah Ciolek (@hannahciolek) December 10, 2022
Wahl’s brother Eric has questioned the circumstances surrounding his brother’s death.
