Influential American soccer journalist dies at World Cup
LUSAIL, Qatar — Grant Wahl, an American journalist who helped grow the popularity of soccer in the U.S. and reported on some of the biggest stories in the sport, died Saturday while covering a World Cup match between Argentina and the Netherlands. He was 49.
Wahl fell back in his seat in a section of Lusail Stadium reserved for journalists during extra time of the game, and reporters near him called for assistance.
Emergency services workers responded quickly, treated him for 20 or 30 minutes and then took him out on a stretcher, said Keir Radnedge, a veteran British sports journalist who was working nearby.
The World Cup organizing committee said he was taken to Doha’s Hamad General Hospital, but it did not state a cause of death.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a tweet that American officials were in touch with Qatari authorities “to see to it that his family’s wishes are fulfilled as expeditiously as possible.”
Wahl, who wrote for Sports Illustrated for more than two decades and then started his own website, was a major voice informing an American public of soccer during time of increased interest after the U.S. hosted the 1994 World Cup. He also brought a critical eye to the organizational bodies of the international sport.
Wahl attempted to run for FIFA president against Sepp Blatter and Mohamed bin Hammam in 2011. He promised to open FIFA to greater transparency and said he contacted 150 countries without winning support for a nomination.
Wahl was honored with a tribute from FIFA on the desk where he was due to work for Saturday’s quarterfinal between France and England. White lilies and a framed photograph of Wahl taken in Qatar were left at the media seat that had been assigned to him.
He “really helped put soccer on the mainstream sports map in the States,” Radnedge said.
“Grant had a strong moral compass, on where sports should be and how sport ... should help set standards for people,” he added. “There was never any doubt that Grant was on the side of the good guys in wanting soccer to make the best of itself.”
Wahl was covering his eighth World Cup. He wrote Monday on his website that he had visited a medical clinic 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.
Wahl wore a rainbow T-shirt in support of LGBTQ rights to the United States’ World Cup opener against Wales on Nov. 21 and wrote that security refused him entry and told him to remove the shirt. Gay and lesbian sex is criminalized in Qatar, a conservative Muslim emirate.
Wahl wrote he was detained for 25 minutes at Ahmed Bin Ali stadium in Al Rayyan, then was let go by a security commander. Wahl said FIFA apologized to him.
“His love for football was immense and his reporting will be missed by all who follow the global game,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement.
Wahl graduated from Princeton in 1996 and worked for Sports Illustrated from 1996 to 2021, known primarily for his coverage of soccer and college basketball. He then launched his own website, Futbol with Grant Wahl, and a podcast with Meadowlark Media.
Wahl also worked for Fox Sports from 2012-19 and was hired by CBS Sports in 2021 as an analyst and editorial consultant. In addition, Wahl wrote two books.
His death stunned fellow journalists. “You come to a World Cup as a journalist to work, to share the stresses, the pressures but also the enjoyments and the fascination of it — and to share that with your readers, your listeners, your viewers. That’s what Grant was doing, that’s what he enjoyed doing. Everybody recognized that enthusiasm in him,” Radnedge said.
“So for him to not be with us anymore at such a young age, that’s an immense shock.”