RIP Grant Wahl

DJnVa

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Grant's brother has a video statement out and thinks there's foul play.
 
soxhop411

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Mr. Wednesday said:
I had no idea, I just came across the official U.S. soccer statement on Facebook. For a long time, he was a must-read for things U.S. soccer.

Linked: View: https://www.facebook.com/officialussoccer/photos/a.10152373435233941/10159989371243941/
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His brother thinks he was killed for his Pro LGBTQ stances and taking the government to task over its homophobic stances
View: https://twitter.com/GarrettQuinn/status/1601393325843570694


DJnVa said:
Grant's brother has a video statement out and thinks there's foul play.
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View: https://twitter.com/GrantWahl/status/1594750696137658368
View: https://twitter.com/MattSmithFOX13/status/1601401358984581121
There will be a mountain of attention on this -- far too early to know how he died, but Grant Wahl (a wonderful soccer writer) had just published a piece about migrant deaths in Qatar and drew attention for the reaction by security guards when he tried to wear a pride shirt.
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Greg29fan

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GW had also done extensive reporting on the countless deaths of migrants in Qatar while building the World Cup infrastructure.
 
Joe D Reid

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He tweeted about the tying goal by NED, so this is very new news.
 
Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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RIP.

Seemingly healthy people in their late 40s do sometimes drop dead from heart attacks. I wouldn’t draw any conclusions before an autopsy but I’d surely want the body sent back to the states immediately so that a US-based doctor could perform that autopsy.
 
67YAZ

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Horrible news. Grant jumped into soccer head first and brought the game to millions of Americans. He was reporting on Qatar with integrity, doing good journalism about the USMNT and the context of the WC. So, so sad.
 
Wingack

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Just a heads up but I started a thread in V&N too, because there is the obvious political angle to this story and how the US may or may not respond.
 
MiracleOfO2704

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If, and boy do I mean if, it’s found that Qatari anything resembling official had anything to do with Wahl’s death, that should be the end of FIFA. They could have moved this WC, even as late as last year, but chose to follow the money.
 
singaporesoxfan

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RedOctober3829 said:
There has to be foul play. He was an excellent CBB writer and just as good on the soccer beat.
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There doesn’t have to be; we just saw Christian Eriksen collapse in the European Championships from a heart attack last year and he was seemingly fit enough to be playing in an international competitive game
 
soxhop411

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View: https://twitter.com/MicahAdams13/status/1601406602598559745

How Fox covers Grant Wahl’s death during the tournament in Qatar both in studio and on broadcasts will be — one way or the other — studied in journalism classes for decades.

Such a surreal story and it’s impossible to look away and put on a good face for the sake of the sport.
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Excellent point by Micah here.

there is no way fox sports can ignore one of their coworkers “dying” while covering the sport you are broadcasting. How they handle covering this will be really interesting

WSJ says “cardiac arrest”

DOHA, Qatar—Journalist Grant Wahl, one of the most prominent chroniclers of American soccer over more than 20 years and a longtime writer for Sports Illustrated, died on Friday night while covering the World Cup in Qatar. He was 48.

Mr. Wahl was at the quarterfinal match between Argentina and Netherlands in Lusail, north of Doha, when he suffered what medics at the scene called a cardiac arrest. His death was confirmed by the U.S. Soccer Federation in a statement on social media.
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/grant-wahl-soccer-journalist-world-cup-11670639526
 
lostjumper

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Rip Grant. He was a fabulous journalist. When I started to get to get soccer in the early 2000's I read all of his pieces. Whether it was the US National teams or MLS I probably read everyone of his articles for a few years. He will be missed, and I hope his family gets answers
 
worm0082

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There’s also a lot of reports on Twitter that on podcasts the last few days he had mentioned he wasn’t feeling well, thought he had bronchitis and had visited a medical center.
 
Mr. Wednesday

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Yahoo! story up. I saw the same thing re respiratory illness (may have been in the article at one point but isn't now).

https://sports.yahoo.com/world-cup-2022-american-soccer-reporter-grant-wahl-dies-in-qatar-023454691.html

There's a post on BigSoccer quoting an AP story with a quote from Wahl on his illness. No link for the AP story, though.

“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. I didn’t have Covid (I test regularly here), but I went into the medical clinic at the main media center today, and they said I probably have bronchitis. They gave me a course of antibiotics and some heavy-duty cough syrup, and I’m already feeling a bit better just a few hours later. But still: No bueno.”
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Titans Bastard

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Wildly unexpected news. It feels like every single journalist involved in US soccer in any way has stories of how Grant helped them or gave them advice at some point early in their careers. This is a big loss. RIP.
 
67YAZ

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Lots of love pouring out, which is the sign of a truly kind and caring person.





 
nattysez

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This is devastating loss for soccer/football.

I don't blame people for assuming the worst, but given the amount of vitriol being heaped on FIFA/Qatar, I find it a little hard to believe that the powers-that-be would target a single reporter for retribution.
 
crystalline

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This is just shocking and horrible. Wahl is young and healthy.

Young people do sometimes have heart attacks.
If Qatar did it, are people proposing poison, or a Russia/KGB-style heart attack-resembling shot or drug? That sounds extremely unlikely.

I’ll miss his coverage. What a shock.

(also no one is going to be studying Fox Sports for any sort of journalism class. Fox Sports is part of the Murdoch empire— I believe it is owned by the corp controlled by Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch. They do not do journalism: they do advocacy for wealth and power. Think Succession.)

I am still in shock about Wahl. Just collapsed like that? Give your loved ones a hug.
 
McBride11

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Omg this is horrible and tragic. Guy was an amazing writer about soccer and beyond. All reports are he was a nice and caring guy that stood up for his convictions and colleagues.

And he was in the middle of covering the most iconic event in the sport he seemed most prolific in and well known for in writing. A place he had done serious, non sports, journalism into the vast issues in Qatar.

I would agree any political ramifications , autospy issues , murder concerns should go to v&n. This should be thanks and commemoration for a fantastic writer, soccer fan, and his beloved family.
 
Jed Zeppelin

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Mentioned in a tweet upthread but his story on running for FIFA president has been on my mind basically in perpetuity since I first read it and as the nature of this tournament unraveled piece by piece.

An essential voice for soccer in this country and for a long time one of the only voices that I have any recollection of being aware of. Have been following his commentary before and during the tournament with interest and certainly a sense of pride that he was not turning a blind eye. Extremely shocking and upsetting.

Ran into Grant and Lalas once at Biggie’s Clam Bar in Hoboken when the USMNT were in town staying at the W and playing in Harrison. Only exchanged little more than pleasantries but easy to see why so many have such kind words to say.

I can’t fathom foul play, it would simply be too audacious.
 
joe dokes

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This is awful. He's been the authoritative US writer for as long as I've been remotely serious about watching soccer.

His shirt-detentiion and the qatari crankiness about today's dead worker will undoubtedly fuel the theory machine.
 
strek1

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RedOctober3829 said:
There has to be foul play. He was an excellent CBB writer and just as good on the soccer beat.
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I don't know about that but it is one hell of a coincidence coming so soon after his controversy. Certainly should be looked at hard to be sure it was purely medical.
 
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