A leading American sports reporter, who last month had a run-in with Qatar’s World Cup organisers over a rainbow LGBTQ shirt, died while covering a tense quarter-final match Friday, his family said.
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: “I’m 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.”
“We offer our deepest condolences to Grant’s family, friends and his many close colleagues in the media,” the statement added.
– World Cup ‘stress’ –
Organisers did not mention an incident…
Source: Vanguard Newspaper
