AL-RAJJAN (CATAR), (dpa/EP) – American sports journalist Grant Wahl died of natural causes while covering the World Cup in Qatar, specifically from a ruptured aortic aneurysm with a hematoma in the pericardium, his wife, Céline Gounder, confirmed.
«Neither resuscitation nor shocks would have saved him. His death was not related to COVID. His death was not related to the vaccination status,» Gounder said, making it clear that the medical report was not inconsistent.
Wahl collapsed in the press box at Lusail Stadium during the quarter-final match between Argentina and the Netherlands. Medical teams began treating him on site and he was later transferred to Hamad General Hospital, where he died at the age of 48.
Days earlier, and according to Wahl himself, he was detained for 25 minutes before the U.S.-Wales World Cup group stage match on Nov. 21 for wearing a rainbow-colored T-shirt to show his support for the LGBT+ community. Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar and punishable by up to seven years in jail. After the news broke, his brother denounced via Instagram that the journalist may have been murdered.
«My name is Eric Wahl. I live in Seattle, Washington. I’m Grant Wahl’s brother. I’m gay,» he stated in the video, as reported by ‘New York Post’. «I’m the reason he wore the rainbow jersey to the World Cup. My brother was healthy. He told me he received death threats. I don’t think my brother just died. I think he was killed. And I’m just asking for any help,» he added.
The journalist was married to Céline R. Gounder, a physician specializing in infectious diseases who was part of Biden’s coronavirus advisory, and who today confirmed that the causes of death are natural.
