The wife of prominent football journalist Grant Wahl said Wednesday that A writer died last week while covering the World Cup It was caused by an aortic aneurysm.
I ruled out anything suspicious about his death.
“It’s just one of those things that has probably been brewing for years,” Wahl’s wife, Celine Gunder, said during an appearance on “CBS Mornings.”
Wahl, 48, fell into his seat on Friday as he covered it Quarter-final match Between Argentina and the Netherlands in Lusail, Qatar. Paramedics, summoned by other reporters to the scene, attended to him for several minutes.
The US State Department assisted in the rapid repatriation of the body, and an autopsy was performed in the United States.
Wahl was critical of the Qatari government for its treatment of migrant workers during the construction of the stadiums for the tournament. He had also arrived at a stadium earlier in the tournament wearing a rainbow soccer jersey, in protest against the criminalization of homosexuality in Qatar. He wrote in his newsletter, Substack, that he was arrested by security and forced to remove his shirt.
After Wahl’s death, his brother, Eric, posted a video to Instagram saying that Wah faced death threats for his coverage and that he believed Wahl was killed in revenge.
Wahl has spent more than two decades covering American and world football for Sports Illustrated and has been one of the most prominent journalists covering the sport in the United States. He had recently started his Substack system and was covering the Men’s World Cup finals for the eighth time. Last week, he wrote about his struggles with his health and seeking medical treatment for chest pain.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
“Alcohol enthusiast. Twitter ninja. Tv lover. Falls down a lot. Hipster-friendly coffee geek.”