…as bother suggests US reporter may have been murdered
The sports world is mourning the shocking death of veteran soccer reporter Grant Wahl at the ongoing World Cup in Qatar, where the former Sports Illustrated writer suddenly collapsed while covering Friday’s Argentina-Netherlands game.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James shared his grief with reporters in Philadelphia on Friday, roughly 20 years after Wahl introduced the world to a 17-year-old high school player from Akron in the pages of Sports Illustrated.
‘I’m very fond of Grant and having that cover shoot – me being a teenager and him covering that, it was a pretty cool thing,’ said James, who was only a high school junior at the time, but would be drafted with the first pick of the NBA Draft 16 months after appearing on the SI cover.
‘And he was always pretty cool to be around,’ James continued, as quoted by ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. ‘He spent a lot of time in my hometown of Akron covering me over the course of time before that cover story came out. And I’ve always kind of watched from a distance.
‘Even when I moved up in the ranks and became a professional and he kind of went to a different sport and things of that nature of the years, anytime his name would come up I would I would always think back to me as a teenager and having Grant in our building down at St. V. So it’s a tragic loss,’ James said, speaking after the Lakers’ 133-122 loss to the 76ers in Philadelphia.
‘It’s unfortunate to lose someone as great as he was and I wish his family, like I said, the best. And may he rest in paradise.’
Wahl, a respected Sports Illustrated alum and the preeminent soccer journalist in the US, had been covering the tournament on Substack and for CBS Sports until Friday, when he collapsed at Lusail Iconic Stadium. He was given CPR and rushed to a nearby hospital in an Uber but has since been declared dead at 48.
The White House has been in constant contact with Wahl’s widow, Dr. Celine Gounder, a former Biden administration official with the COVID-19 response team.
He had previously complained about bronchitis during a recent podcast and was admittedly ill earlier in the tournament, but was ‘healthy’ while reporting on Friday’s Argentina-Netherlands match, according to a social media post by his brother Eric.
‘My body finally broke down on me,’ Wahl wrote recently, while covering his eighth World Cup. ‘Three weeks of little sleep, high stress and lots of work can do that to you. 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.’
The circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear, although Eric suggested that his brother may have been murdered after getting detained earlier in the tournament for wearing a rainbow flag t-shirt, in violation of local anti-gay laws.
‘My name is Eric Wahl,’ his brother’s Instagram video began. ‘I live in Seattle, Washington. I am Grant Wahl’s brother. I’m gay. I’m the reason he wore the rainbow shirt to the World Cup. My brother was healthy. He told me he received death threats. I do not believe my brother just died. I believe he was killed. And I just beg for any help.’
In addition to homophobia in Qatar, Wahl also reported heavily on the migrant worker deaths leading up to the tournament – as many as 6,500 by some estimates.
‘There will be a mountain of attention on this — far too early to know how he died, but Grant Wahl (a wonderful soccer writer) had just published a piece about migrant deaths in Qatar and drew attention for the reaction by security guards when he tried to wear a pride shirt,’ tweeted Fox Seattle’s Matthew Smith.
Many have raised suspicions about Wahl’s death, but hard facts remain scarce as authorities in Qatar and the US try to determine the cause.
A US State Department spokesperson released a statement late Friday, saying the department was working with ‘Qatari officials to see to it that his family’s wishes are fulfilled as expeditiously as possible.’
*Courtesy: Daily Mail.co.uk
