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American Soccer journalist Grant Wahl has passed away in Qatar at 49
Friday evening in Doha, Qatar at Lusail Stadium during the second extra time period between Argentina and Netherlands, paramedics rushed to the media box. A journalist, who was later identified as Grant Wahl had collapsed. Eye witness sources have said that paramedics attended to him for 10 minutes even during a point within that time having to perform CPR. Wahl was rushed to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
It is a sad day for the American soccer community as Wahl was a trailblazer/pioneer for the sport in journalism for the U.S. Late Friday night the U.S. soccer federation sent out a statement saying "The entire U.S. soccer family is heartbroken to learn that we have lost Grant Wahl. Fans of soccer and journalism of the highest quality knew we could always count on Grant to deliver insightful and entertaining stories about our game, and it's major protagonists: teams, players, coaches and the many personalties that make soccer unlike any other sport. Here in the United States, Grant's passion for soccer and commitment to elevating its profile across our sporting landscape played a major role in helping to drive interest in and respect for our beautiful game. As important, Grant's belief in the power of the game to advance human rights was, and will remain, an inspiration to all. Grant made soccer his life's work, and we are devastated that he and his brilliant writing will no longer be with us. U.S. soccer sends its sincerest condolences to Grant's wife, Dr. Celine Gounder, and all of his family member, friends and colleagues in the media. And we thank Grant for his tremendous dedication to and impact on our game in the United States. His writing and the stories he told will live on".
The news of his death has come with quite a controversy as well. The night of the U.S. vs Wales match, Wahl posted a picture to his twitter that he was denied access to the match because of the gay pride shirt that he was wearing which such display is prohibited in Qatar. From that moment on, Wahl used his social media platforms to take aim at the human rights injustice taking place in Qatar. Grant had mentioned recently on his podcast also via social media that he had visited a clinic because he was feeling ill in which he was told he probably had bronchitis and was given medication. Late Friday evening his brother Eric Wahl has publicly voiced that his brother was a healthy man and believes that he was killed.
Since the news of Wahl's passing, many media members, celebrities, and athletes have chimed in including LeBron James who was informed of the news after his game in Philadelphia Friday night. Grant was a writer for Sports Illustrated in which he happened to write "The Chosen One" piece on James when he was transitioning from high school to the NBA. James shared a few words after his game stating "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, and he was always pretty cool to be around. He spent a lot of time in my hometown Akron covering me over the course of time before that cover story came out. And I've always kind of watched from a distance".
The PlugTalkSports team at this time would like to offer our prayers to all friends and family of Grant Wahl. As fellow journalists and members of the media we are saddened by this moment but will make sure that Grant's work and legacy lives on forever.
Written by: Daniel Torres
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