Reporter Who Wore Rainbow Shirt Dies At World Cup

December 10, 2022 News, Sports

Yahoo Sports reports:

Grant Wahl, a prominent U.S. soccer journalist with previous experience working for CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated, died in Qatar on Friday, according to his wife and U.S. Soccer. Wahl, who was 48, had been in Qatar working as an independent journalist through his Substack “Fútbol with Grant Wahl.”

Yahoo Sports soccer reporter Henry Bushnell was present at Friday’s Argentina-Netherlands match and observed Wahl seemingly unconscious in his press box seat during extra time at Lusail Stadium. Medics worked on Wahl for approximately a half-hour before taking him out on a stretcher.

The Associated Press reports:

Wahl was covering his eighth World Cup. He wrote Monday on his website that he had visited a medical clinic while in Qatar. “My body finally broke down on me. Three weeks of little sleep, high stress and lots of work can do that to you,” Wahl wrote.

“What had been a cold over the last 10 days turned into something more severe on the night of the USA-Netherlands game, and I could feel my upper chest take on a new level of pressure and discomfort.” Wahl wrote that he tested negative for COVID-19 and sought treatment for his symptoms.

“I went into the medical clinic at the main media center today, and they said I probably have bronchitis. They gave me a course of antibiotics and some heavy-duty cough syrup, and I’m already feeling a bit better just a few hours later. But still: No bueno,” he wrote.

OutKick reports:



Wahl made headlines earlier in the tournament when trying to enter a World Cup stadium wearing a rainbow t-shirt. According to his Twitter, security guards refused to let him in to the USA-Wales match without changing shirts.

He later said he was detained for half an hour but eventually allowed into the media center. Wahl has also been a repeated, vocal critic of Qatar’s handling of the World Cup. He recently posted an article excoriating World Cup organizers for not caring about migrant worker deaths.

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