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LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) — Grant Wahl, an American journalist who helped boost soccer popularity in the United States and reported on some of the sport’s biggest stories, died Saturday while covering a World Cup match between Argentina and the Netherlands. He was 49.
Wahl sank into his seat in a segment of Lusail Stadium reserved for reporters for longer than the game, and reporters next to him called for help.
Rescuers responded very quickly, treating him for 20 or 30 minutes at the scene and then pulling him out on a stretcher, said Keir Radnedge, a veteran British sports journalist who worked nearby at the time.
The World Cup organizing committee said he was taken to Doha’s Hamad General Hospital, but did not say the cause of death. the wishes of the family,” he said in a statement.
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Wahl, who wrote for Sports Illustrated for more than two decades and then hosted his own website, was a leading voice informing the football audience about an era of heightened interest after the United States hosted the 1994 World Cup. He also took a critical look at the organizing bodies of foreign sport.
Wahl tried to run for the FIFA presidency in opposition to Sepp Blatter and Mohamed bin Hammam in 2011. He promised to open FIFA to greater transparency and said he had contacted 150 countries without getting a nomination.
He “really helped put the major sports in the United States on the map,” Radnedge said.
“Grant had a solid ethical compass, about where to play and how to play. . . help set criteria for people,” he said.
Wahl was covering his eighth World Cup. He wrote on his online page on Monday that he visited a medical clinic during his stay in Qatar.
“Through it all, my body collapsed in the most sensitive part of me. Three weeks of poor sleep, high altitude tension and a lot of work can do this to you,” Wahl wrote. something more serious on match night USA. I can feel my upper chest take on a new point of tension and discomfort. “
Wahl wrote that he had tested negative for COVID-19 and sought a remedy for his symptoms.
“Today I went to the medical clinic in the main media center and was told I had bronchitis. I was given a course of antibiotics and cough syrup, and I already feel a little better a few hours later. But still: Not good,” he wrote.
Wahl tweeted Wednesday that he celebrated his birthday that day.
“We can count on Grant to provide interesting and entertaining stories about our game and its key players,” the U. S. Soccer Federation said. U. S. in a statement. ” Grant’s love of football and his commitment to raising his profile in our sporting landscape has played a major role in helping to spark interest and respect for our beautiful game. “
Wahl’s wife, Dr. Celine Gounder, tweeted that she was grateful for her husband’s “football family” and friends who had reached out.
“I’m shocked,” wrote Gounder, an associate professor at New York University School of Medicine, an attending physician at Bellevue Hospital Center and a contributor to CBS News.
U. S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a tweet that U. S. officials were in contact with the Qatari government “that his family’s wishes be granted as temporarily as possible. “
Wahl wore a rainbow jersey in support of LGBTQ rights at the opening of the U. S. World Cup. He was told by the U. S. against Wales on Nov. 21 and wrote that security denied him access and told him to take off his shirt. Gay and lesbian sex is criminalized in Qatar, a conservative Muslim emirate.
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Wahl wrote that he was detained for 25 minutes at Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan and then released through a security commander. Wahl said FIFA apologized to him.
Among Wahl’s paintings before he started playing football exclusively, an illustrated sports story about LeBron James in 2002, when James was a junior at St. James in St. James was a Susan S. James in S. Petersburg. Vincent-St. Mary High in Akron, Ohio.
“He’s been great to be with. He spent a lot of time in my hometown of Akron,” James said in Philadelphia after the Los Angeles Lakers lost in overtime to the 76ers. Going back to myself as a teenager and had Grant at our construction in St. V’s. It is a tragic loss. It’s unfortunate to lose someone as big as him. I wish his circle of family well. May he rest in paradise.
A voter at FIFA’s annual awards, Wahl is one of 82 bloodhounds honored last week by FIFA and foreign sports press deal AIPS for attending 8 or more World Cups.
“His immense love for football and his reports will be missed by all who adhere to world football,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement.
Wahl graduated from Princeton in 1996 and worked for Sports Illustrated from 1996 to 2021, known for its school football and basketball policy. He then presented his own website, Football with Grant Wahl, and a podcast with Meadowlark Media.
Wahl also worked for Fox Sports from 2012 to 2019 and was hired through CBS Sports in 2021 as an analyst and editorial consultant. eebook “Masters of Modern Football”.
His death at the World Cup stunned his fellow journalists covering the matches.
“You come to a World Cup as a journalist to work, to share the stress, the pressures but also the pleasures and fascination of it, and to share that with your readers, your listeners, your viewers. That’s what Grant did, that’s what he enjoyed doing. Everyone identified that enthusiasm in him,” Radnedge said.
“So for him to be with us at such a young age is a big impact. “
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