According to his spouse and the United States Soccer Federation, one of the most prominent soccer correspondents in the United States passed away on Friday while reporting on the quarter-finals in Doha.
This journalist garnered attention earlier this summer when he was detained at the Qatar World Cup for sporting a rainbow shirt.
Throughout his vibrant journalism over a decade at Sports Illustrated and, subsequently, at CBS Sports, Grant Wahl, now 48 years old, contributed to the growth of soccer’s popularity in the United States.
As per NPR, Wahl collapsed in the press tribune as the match between Argentina and the Netherlands drew close on Friday.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Wahl suffered a heart attack. He received cardiopulmonary resuscitation before being transported away on a stretcher.
Grant Wahl’s sibling urged him to don a rainbow shirt
“Greetings, my name is Eric Wahl. I reside in Seattle in the state of Washington. I am the elder sibling of Grant Wahl. In a video he posted on his Instagram account before making the account private, he came out as homosexual. I persuaded him to go to the World Cup in that shirt with the rainbow on it. My brother did not have any ailments. He confided in me that he had been the target of death threats. It’s difficult for me to comprehend that my brother has already passed away. I suspect he has been murdered. And please, provide me with any assistance you can”.
Due to Wahl’s attire featuring a soccer ball surrounded by a spectrum, he was initially denied entry into Ahmad bin Ali Stadium and detained for thirty minutes before the United States Men’s National Team’s World Cup match versus Wales. Eventually, he was allowed to enter the stadium.
Did Grant Wahl meet a tragic end?
Eric Wahl, the brother of the departed soccer journalist Grant Wahl, alleges that his brother “met a tragic end” during a demonstration in support of the LGBTQ+ community and that he suspects the government of Qatar was involved in his brother’s demise.
Last month, Grant asked security to remove the LGBT pride jersey he was wearing to gain entry to the opening match between the United States and Wales. Consequently, Grant was prohibited from attending the match. Eric Wahl believes that the Qatari government may have played a part in his brother’s death.
Grant, 48, passed away on Friday, December 9, while reporting Argentina’s victory against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup. At the Lusail Iconic Stadium, he suffered a medical issue and required urgent transfer to the hospital.
It is uncertain whether he perished on the way to the hospital or was already there when he passed away. Grant’s brother, Eric, disclosed the news of Grant’s passing on Friday, December 9.
