LeBron James and Billie Jean King lead tributes

The death of prominent journalist Grant Wahl at the World Cup in Qatar has led to an outpouring of shock and grief across the sports world, with NBA star LeBron James and tennis great Billie Jean King leading the tributes to the American.


Wahl died after collapsing while covering Friday’s Argentina-Netherlands match. The circumstances around his death are unclear.


King said Wahl’s death was “heartbreaking.”


“A talented journalist, Grant was an advocate for the LGBTQ community & a prominent voice for women’s soccer,” King tweeted Saturday. “He used his platform to elevate those whose stories needed telling. Prayers for his family.”


On Friday in Philadelphia, basketball star 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.


“I’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,” said James, speaking at a postgame press conference. “Any time his name would come up I’ll always think back to me as a teenager and having Grant in our building … It’s a tragic loss.”


Qatar’s World Cup organizers said on Saturday that Wahl “fell ill” in the press area, where he received “immediate medical treatment on site.”


He was then transferred to Hamad General Hospital, said a spokesperson for the Supreme Court Committee for Delivery and Legacy, the body responsible for planning the tournament.


Wahl was treated in the stadium “for about 20-25 minutes” before he was moved to the hospital, Keir Radnedge, a columnist at World Soccer Magazine, told CNN Saturday.


“This was towards the end of extra time in the match. Suddenly, colleagues up to my left started shouting for medical assistance. Obviously, someone had collapsed. Because the chairs are freestanding, people were able to move the chairs, so it’s possible to create a little bit of space around him,” Radnedge said.


He added that the medical team were there “pretty quickly and were able to, as best they could, give treatment.”


‘Shocked and devastated’

“Only some days ago, Grant was recognized by FIFA and AIPS (the International Sports Press Association) for his contribution to reporting on eight consecutive FIFA World Cups,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino in a statement.


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 “shocked and devastated at the news of Grant’s passing.”


“We were proud to call him a colleague and friend for two decades – no writer in the history of (Sports Illustrated) has been more passionate about the sport he loved and the stories he wanted to tell,” said the statement.


It added that Wahl had first joined the publication in November 1996. He had volunteered to cover the sport as a junior reporter – back before it reached the heights of global popularity it now enjoys – eventually becoming “one of the most respected soccer authorities in the world,” it said.


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.


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.


Wittyngham, Wahl’s podcast co-host, told CNN on Saturday the news of his death had been hard to fathom.


“For Americans, Grant Wahl is the first person you read covering soccer. He was kind of the only person for a while … Grant was the first person who really paid genuine attention to this sport in a meaningful way,” Wittyngham said.


Several journalists shared stories of reporting alongside Wahl, and having encountered him at multiple World Cups over the years.


“Before he became the best covering soccer he did hoops and was so kind to me,” wrote famed broadcaster Dick Vitale.


Timmy T. Davis, the US Ambassador to Qatar, tweeted that Wahl was “a well known and greatly respected reporter who focused on the beautiful game.”


“The entire US Soccer family is heartbroken to learn that we have lost Grant Wahl,” US Soccer said in a statement on its official Twitter account.


“Grant made soccer his life’s work, and we are devastated that he and his brilliant writing will no longer be with us.”


US Soccer praised Wahl’s passion and “belief in the power of the game to advance human rights,” and shared its condolences with Wahl’s wife, Celine Gounder, and his loved ones.


Gounder also posted the US Soccer statement on Twitter.


“I am so thankful for the support of my husband Grant Wahl’s soccer family and of so many friends who’ve reached out tonight. I’m in complete shock,” wrote Gounder, a former CNN contributor who served on the Biden-Harris transition Covid-19 advisory board.


US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the department was in “close communication” with Wahl’s family. The World Cup organizers also said they were in touch with the US embassy “to ensure the process of repatriating the body is in accordance with the family’s wishes.”


Wahl had covered soccer for more than two decades, including 11 World Cups — six men’s, five women’s – and authored several books on the sport, according to his website.


He had just celebrated his birthday earlier this week with “a great group of media friends at the World Cup,” according to a post on his official Twitter account, which added: “Very thankful for everyone.”


Feeling ill

In an episode of the podcast Futbol with Grant Wahl, published days before his death on December 6, he had complained of feeling unwell.


“It had gotten pretty bad in terms of like the tightness in my chest, tightness, pressure. Feeling pretty hairy, bad,” 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.


He was given cough syrup and ibuprofen, and felt better shortly afterward, he said.


Wahl also said he experienced an “involuntary capitulation by my body and mind” after the US-Netherlands game on December 3.


“This isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve done eight of these on the men’s side,” he said at the time. “And 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.”


He further described the incident in a recent newsletter published on December 5, writing that his body had “broke down” after he had little sleep, high stress and a heavy workload. He’d had a cold for 10 days, which “turned into something more severe,” he wrote, adding that he felt better after receiving antibiotics and catching up on sleep.


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.


https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/266087

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/266881

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/266258

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/268880

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/266152

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/267669

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/267714

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/268905

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/266197

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/266986

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/267754

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/267759

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/269075

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/266307

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/269085

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/266473

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/266352

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/266458

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/267197

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/267207

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/268784

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/268789

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/270005

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/270010

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/267273

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/267298

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/267313

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/270300

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/269094

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/267522

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/268246

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/269134

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/267538

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/267563

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/267582

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/268326

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/269214

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/267603

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/269861

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/271860

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/268908

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/269931

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/268938

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/268943

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/270021

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/270076

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/269078

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/272105

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/271169

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/272155

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/270171

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/269272

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/269193

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/272265

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/269328

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/271399

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/272320

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/271419

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/269408

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/272375

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/269522

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/269582

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/269498

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/271739

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/270576

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/269668

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/271819

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/274569

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/272997

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/272713

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/274639

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/273806

https://new.c.mi.com/ph/post/274984

https://hackmd.io/@albedochan515/SJ8V-3b_j

https://hackmd.io/@6C6Nglb8Qk6T-IxWjGFMeA/rJqNmnW_i

https://hackmd.io/@6C6Nglb8Qk6T-IxWjGFMeA/ByRANhZOi

https://hackmd.io/@6C6Nglb8Qk6T-IxWjGFMeA/r1K3L3Wui

https://hackmd.io/@6C6Nglb8Qk6T-IxWjGFMeA/BJWIv2Wds

https://hackmd.io/@SYyMoOMaQdua8-e5HKXGUA/HJw1dhbuo

https://hackmd.io/@SYyMoOMaQdua8-e5HKXGUA/SJ-du2WOj

https://hackmd.io/@SYyMoOMaQdua8-e5HKXGUA/S1YgYhZdi

https://hackmd.io/@SYyMoOMaQdua8-e5HKXGUA/r18fcnbds

https://hackmd.io/@ECRG_ufkQla3YA0Vd3oCDw/rJVFjnZdj

https://hackmd.io/@ECRG_ufkQla3YA0Vd3oCDw/rJ043hbOi

https://hackmd.io/@ECRG_ufkQla3YA0Vd3oCDw/SJHbp3buj

https://hackmd.io/@ECRG_ufkQla3YA0Vd3oCDw/BJZ8yTZdo

https://hackmd.io/@FXrCd2lxSL-hRbkAD7sWfQ/ryUilp-Os

https://hackmd.io/@FXrCd2lxSL-hRbkAD7sWfQ/rydEbpWOs

https://hackmd.io/@FXrCd2lxSL-hRbkAD7sWfQ/BkF_b6ZOs

https://hackmd.io/@FXrCd2lxSL-hRbkAD7sWfQ/SkctMTbuj

https://hackmd.io/@sHhvgRdnST6D4aX3oJvHRQ/SkFdm6Z_j

https://hackmd.io/@sHhvgRdnST6D4aX3oJvHRQ/SytQNpWOo

https://hackmd.io/@sHhvgRdnST6D4aX3oJvHRQ/HkweS6W_o

https://hackmd.io/@sHhvgRdnST6D4aX3oJvHRQ/H1WFBTWuj

https://hackmd.io/@8JhekAI5Qg-pQF7mJKApHw/BJ6Z8pZdo

https://hackmd.io/@8JhekAI5Qg-pQF7mJKApHw/HyaoUaWus

https://hackmd.io/@8JhekAI5Qg-pQF7mJKApHw/BJepw6WOo

https://hackmd.io/@8JhekAI5Qg-pQF7mJKApHw/HyhNda-_s

https://hackmd.io/@8JhekAI5Qg-pQF7mJKApHw/BJPjOTbOs

https://hackmd.io/@8JhekAI5Qg-pQF7mJKApHw/SyncKpZui

https://blue-island-movietwonlineduckling.statuspage.io/


He said security staff had told him to change his shirt because “it’s not allowed,” 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.


Afterward, Wahl told CNN he “probably will” wear the shirt again.