The sports journalist Grant Wahla great soccer reference in the United States, He passed away this Friday at the age of 48. while covering the World Cup in Qatar 2022.
US media claimed that Wahl collapsed during his coverage of the quarterfinal match between Argentina and the Netherlands. For now The exact cause of his death is not known..
“The entire US soccer family is heartbroken to learn that we have lost Grant Wahl,” the soccer team said in a statement. US Soccer Federation (USSF). “Fans of football and top quality journalism knew we could always count on Grant to deliver insightful and entertaining stories about our sport and its great players,” he added.
On his Twitter account, where he had more than 850,000 followers, this respected and influential football journalist published live messages throughout Friday about what was happening both in the match between Argentina and the Netherlands and in the previous one between Brazil and Croatia .
In his blog, Wahl explained last Monday that he had had some health problems in recent days and that he received treatment in Qatar for what appeared to be bronchitis.
“My body has finally fallen apart. Three weeks of little sleep, high stress and a lot of work can do this to you,” he said, recounting that what seemed like “a cold” turned into something “more severe” the night of the round of 16 game between USA and Netherlands.
Wahl, without entering the stadium for the rainbow shirt
The renowned journalist denounced on Twitter last November that he had difficulties accessing the stadium where the match between the United States and Wales was taking place because he was wearing a rainbow flag t-shirt.
“You have to change your shirt, it’s not allowed,” a security guard had told him before “forcibly ripping” the phone from his hands, according to the American reporter’s account.
Wahl was finally able to access the press center after being detained: “I’m still wearing my shirt. I was detained for almost half an hour“.
