Grant Wahl, one of the most renowned soccer writers in the United States, died Saturday while covering the match between Argentina and the Netherlands in the World Cup.
American journalists sitting near him said Wahl slumped in his seat in the press box at Lusail Stadium during extra time and his colleagues immediately called for assistance.
Emergency services workers rushed to the scene, reporters said, later being told Wahl had died.
Wahl had tweeted on Wednesday that he had celebrated his birthday that day. American reporters who knew him said he was 49 years old.
“We could always count on Grant to provide insightful and entertaining stories about our sport and its leading players,” the United States Soccer Federation said in a statement.
“Grant’s belief in the power of the game to advance human rights was and will remain an inspiration to all. Grant made football his life’s work, and we are devastated that he and his brilliant writing will no longer be with us,” he added.
Wahl, who was covering his eighth World Cup, wrote on Monday that he had visited the hospital while in Qatar.
“My body finally went awry. Three weeks of little sleep, high blood pressure and a heavy workload can do this to you,” Wahl wrote.
“What had been a cold for the last 10 days turned into something more severe on the night of the game between the United States and the Netherlands, and I could feel a new level of pressure and discomfort in my upper chest.”
Wahl wrote that he tested negative for COVID-19 and sought treatment for his symptoms.
“I went to the medical clinic in the main media center today and they said I might have bronchitis. They gave me a course of antibiotics and strong cough syrup, and I’m feeling somewhat better just a few hours later. But still: I’m not right”.
During the World Cup, Wahl attracted international attention after he claimed that he had been briefly detained while attending the game between the United States and Wales on November 21 for wearing a rainbow-colored shirt.
Rainbow-colored jerseys, armbands and other items have drawn attention during the tournament in part because of Qatar’s stance on LGBTQ rights. Same-sex sex is criminalized in Qatar, a conservative Islamic nation on the Arabian Peninsula.
Wahl said FIFA later apologized to him over the incident.
Wahl wrote that he had been among 82 journalists honored by FIFA and the international sports press association AIPS for covering at least eight World Cups.
Wahl, a 1996 Princeton graduate, worked for Sports Illustrated from 1996 to 2021, and was primarily known for covering college football and basketball. He later opened his own channel on the internet.
Wahl also worked for Fox Sports from 2012 to 2019.
He is survived by his wife, Dr. Celine Gounder, an associate professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine and an attending physician at Bellevue Hospital Center and was a medical news contributor with CBS News.