Popular U.S. soccer journalist Grant Wahl died on Friday after suffering “acute distress” while covering a match at the World Cup in Qatar, his agent said.U.S.
Soccer said it was “heartbroken to learn” of Wahl’s death. His wife responded to the U.S. Soccer statement on Twitter, saying she was “in complete shock”.Qatar’s World Cup organizers, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), paid tribute to Wahl’s “enormous love of football” and offered condolences to his family, friends and media colleagues.
Wahl, a former Sports Illustrated sportswriter who moved to the Substack online publishing platform, had been tweeting about the Netherlands-Argentina match earlier on Friday.His agent, Tim Scanlan, told Reuters that Wahl had “appeared to suffer some kind of acute distress in the start of extra time” at the quarter-final match.
Scanlan said attempts were made to revive Wahl in the press box before he was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“We are in touch with the U.S. Embassy and relevant local authorities to ensure the process of repatriating the body is in accordance with the family’s wishes,” the SC spokesperson said.
