<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n\n
He had just celebrated his birthday earlier this week with \u201c great group of media friends,\u201d according to a post on his official Twitter account, which added: \u201cVery thankful for everyone.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
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In an episode of the podcast Futbol with Grant Wahl, published days before his death on December 6, he had complained of feeling unwell.\n <\/p>\n
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\u201cIt had gotten pretty bad in terms of like the tightness in my chest, tightness, pressure. Feeling pretty hairy, bad,\u201d Wahl told co-host Chris Wittyngham in the episode. He added that he sought help at the medical clinic at the World Cup media center, believing he had bronchitis.\n <\/p>\n
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He was given cough syrup and ibuprofen, and felt better shortly afterward, he said.\n <\/p>\n
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Wahl also said he experienced an \u201cinvoluntary capitulation by my body and mind\u201d after the US-Netherlands game on December 3.\n <\/p>\n
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\u201cThis isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve done eight of these on the men’s side,\u201d he said at the time. \u201cAnd so like, I’ve gotten sick to some extent at every tournament, and it’s just about trying to find a way to like get your work done.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
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He further described the incident in a recent newsletter published on December 5, writing that his body had \u201cbroke down\u201d after he had little sleep, high stress and a heavy workload. He’d had a cold for 10 days, which \u201cturned into something more severe,\u201d he wrote, adding that he felt better after receiving antibiotics and catching up on sleep.\n <\/p>\n
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Wahl had made headlines in November by reporting that he was detained and briefly refused entry to a World Cup match because he was wearing a rainbow t-shirt in support of LGBTQ rights.\n <\/p>\n
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He said security staff had told him to change his shirt because \u201cit’s not allowed,\u201d and had taken his phone. Wahl said he was released 25 minutes after being detained and received apologies from a FIFA representative and a senior member of the security team at the stadium.\n <\/p>\n
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Afterward, Wahl told CNN he \u201cprobably will\u201d wear the shirt again.\n <\/p>\n
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Wahl’s death has sent shockwaves through the soccer and sports journalism community, with many sharing tributes on social media.\n <\/p>\n
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\u201cOnly some days ago, Grant was recognized by FIFA and AIPS (the International Sports Press Association) for his contribution to reporting ten eight consecutive FIFA World Cups,\u201d said FIFA President Gianni Infantino in a statement.\n <\/p>\n
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The co-editors in chief of Sports Illustrated, the publication where Wahl spent the majority of his career, said in a joint statement they were \u201cshocked and devastated at the news of Grant’s passing.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
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\u201cWe were proud to call him a colleague and friend for two decades \u2013 no writer in the history of (Sports Illustrated) has been more passionate about the sport he loved and the stories he wanted to tell,\u201d said the statement.\n <\/p>\n
\n
It added that Wahl had first joined the publication in November 1996. He had volunteered to cover the sport as a junior reporter \u2013 back before it reached the heights of global popularity it now enjoys \u2013 eventually becoming \u201cone of the most respected soccer authorities in the world,\u201d it said.\n <\/p>\n
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The statement said that Wahl also worked with other media outlets including Fox Sports. After leaving Sports Illustrated in 2020, he began publishing his podcast and newsletter.\n <\/p>\n
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On Friday in Philadelphia, basketball star LeBron James said he had been “very fond of Grant.” While Wahl was at Sports Illustrated, he did a cover story on James when James was in high school.\n <\/p>\n
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\u201cI’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,\u201d said James, speaking at a postgame press conference. \u201cAny time his name would come up he I’ll always think back to me as a teenager and having Grant in our building\u2026 It’s a tragic loss.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
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Other current and former US soccer players, including Ali Krieger and Tony Meola, shared their condolences, as did sporting bodies such as Major League Soccer and the National Women’s Soccer League.\n <\/p>\n
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Wittyngham, Wahl’s podcast co-host, told CNN on Saturday the news of his death had been hard to fathom.\n <\/p>\n
\n
\u201cFor Americans, Grant Wahl is the first person you read covering soccer. He was kind of the only person for a while \u2026 Grant was the first person who really paid genuine attention to this sport in a meaningful way,\u201d Wittyngham said.\n <\/p>\n
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Several journalists shared stories of reporting alongside Wahl, and having encountered him at multiple World Cups over the years.\n <\/p>\n
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\u201cBefore he became the best covering soccer he did hoops and was so kind to me,\u201d wrote famed broadcaster Dick Vitale.\n <\/p>\n
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Timmy T. Davis, the US Ambassador to Qatar, tweeted that Wahl was \u201ca well known and greatly respected reporter who focused on the beautiful game.\u201d\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CNN \u2014 Prominent American journalist Grant Wahl has died in Qatar after collapsing while covering the World Cup, sparking an outpouring of shock and grief across the sports world. He \u201ccollapsed\u201d while covering Friday’s Argentina-Netherlands match, a witness told CNN. Qatar’s World Cup organizers said on Saturday that Wahl \u201cfell ill\u201d in the press area, …<\/p>\n
American journalist Grant Wahl dies after collapsing at Qatar World Cup<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nAmerican journalist Grant Wahl dies after collapsing at Qatar World Cup - harchi90<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n