Grant Wahl died at the end of the World Cup – a friend and colleague of his wife, Amanda, from Los Angeles, Uruguay, in December 2005
Grant Wahl, a prominent journalist from the USA, died while covering the World Cup in Qatar, triggering shock and grief across the sports world.
“I am so thankful for the support of my husband Grant Wahl’s soccer family and of so many friends who’ve reached out tonight. I’m in complete shock,” wrote Gounder, a former CNN contributor who served on the Biden-Harris transition Covid-19 advisory board.
He had just celebrated his birthday with a group of media friends at the World Cup, and was thankful for them, according to a post on his official account.
“My body broke down as a result of being broken down by me,” he wrote. “Three weeks of little sleep, high stress and lots of work can do that to you … On the night of the USA-Netherlands game, after 10 days of having a cold, I could feel my upper chest begin to swell up in pain, and as a result I was advised to seek medical help. He said he’d been taking antibiotics and they appeared to be helping.
“This isn’t my first rodeo. He had said that he did eight on the men’s side. It is about trying to find a way to get work done, and I have gotten sick to some extent at every tournament.
He further described the incident in a recent newsletter published on December 5, writing that his body had “broke down” after he had little sleep, high stress and a heavy workload. He wrote that he felt better after receiving antibiotics and catching up on sleep after having a cold for 10 days.
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Wahl said a stadium security guard turned him away, “You have to change your shirt. It’s not allowed. He said that he had been taken into custody. Qatar has been a controversial host since it was awarded the tournament in 2010.
“Only some days ago, Grant was recognized by FIFA and AIPS (the International Sports Press Association) for his contribution to reporting on eight consecutive FIFA World Cups,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino in a statement.
He was so passionate about the sport he wanted to write about that no writer in the history of Sports magazine has been more passionate about it.
It was stated that Wahl had first joined in 1996. He had volunteered to cover the sport as a junior reporter – back before it reached the heights of global popularity it now enjoys – eventually becoming “one of the most respected soccer authorities in the world,” it said.
The statement said that he worked for other media outlets. He began publishing a newsletter after leaving Sports Illustrated.
“I’ve always kind of watched from a distance even when I moved up in ranks and became a professional, and he went to a different sport,” said James, speaking at a postgame press conference. “Any time his name would come up I’ll always think back to me as a teenager and having Grant in our building … It’s a terrible loss.
Major League Soccer and the National Women’s Soccer League shared their sympathies as well as other current and former US soccer players.
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Its human rights record has been heavily criticized. And, since the tournament began last month, the Persian Gulf country’s rules prohibiting same-sex relations have been front and center. It is against the law in Qatar and could lead to jail time. When several European team captains said they would wear special rainbow armbands, FIFA clamped down and threatened the players with yellow cards.
Eric Wahl said that his brother received death threats for wearing the rainbow shirt while reporting on the soccer organization’s activities in the nation.