I don't know for sure, but as someone who has worked within Intelligence for damn near 28 yrs you look for the "gain". What would they gain by killing him. Now there's always the "crazy" , but government sponsored attacks usually have a reason, even if it's not one we agree with. at this point in time, I see nothing that he reported on , did or said that was any different from hundreds of others over the past 2 years. Your country is in the spotlight and by all accounts the WC has gone along pretty well since the games started. Why would you bring massive attention by killing a reporter for the United States and risk bringing more negativity? Lots of people have worn rainbow attire. Grant was stopped, held at the gates for 25 minutes, released then watched the game wearing the shirt and FIFA apologized to him. What sucks is that instead of paying tribute to his dedication and life long pursuit it's turning into a foul play thing. I think that's the most frustrating part. now, could I be wrong? absolutely could! I'm just saying way too early too tell and the fact he's even written himself about sick and such, just don't know.
I listened to his latest podcast. He thought he had bronchitis. Would not have suspected any serious condition listening to him. (Not that means anything just that this is stunning) so sorry for his family.
What the hell, this is crazy... just finished the Amazon documentary on the US-Mexico rivalry last night, which Wahl apparently produced... he was Tweeting about the Argentina-Netherlands game just 7 hours ago: Just an incredible designed set-piece goal by the Netherlands.— Subscribe to GrantWahl.com (@GrantWahl) December 9, 2022 At least it's most likely not Covid given he was testing negative regularly, that would be awkward given his wife is Dr Celine Gounder who was on the Covid team for the Biden campaign... But is bronchitis even fatal? And that suddenly? After getting a "course of antibiotics and heavy-duty cough syrup"? Also WSJ is reporting it was cardiac arrest: "suffered what medics at the scene called cardiac arrest" Let's hope there wasn't any foul play, he must have had plenty of enemies in Qatar between the rainbow shirt incident and coverage of migrant worker deaths... apparently his brother (on Instagram) thinks he was killed, but then who can blame him given how shocking this is, doesn't mean that's what happened... surely there will be a thorough autopsy once his body is back in the US. Wearing that rainbow shirt and that hat, that's how the world will always remember him... RIP.
I guess sudden cardiac arrest from pneumonia is a thing as well. A healthy ESPN reporter in his 30s died of pneumonia. Really tragic news. I used to love his pieces in SI - always creative and entertaining. I was bummed when he gave up that gig.
One of his last contributions here was trying to find out if Adu was captied to us - a long running debate that was really meaningless even at the time.
I don’t even know what to say. Grant Wahl was the first soccer media person I started to read as a soccer fan. Hell he WAS the us soccer media back in the late 90s & early 2000s. Feels like losing an acquaintance. Just so awful. Rest In Peace Grant, and his family and surviving wife Dr Grounder eventually find peace to join their sorrow
Not taking one side or the other (there will be a thorough autopsy I'm sure), but... What did the Saudi government (going all the way up to crown-prince MBS who was directly involved) "gain" by killing US resident and WaPo journalist Jamal Khashoggi? And he was executed in a foreign country (Turkey) and then they disposed of his body after cutting it up with a bone saw. Also see a dozen examples of the Putin regime killing people in both Russia and abroad... a journalist who reported on the Chechen War, Anna Politkovskaya. Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned using Polonium in the UK. More recently Sergei Magnitsky who the Magnitsky Act is named after... All very different cases but were killed after there was nothing left to "gain" by killing them. There is a whole Wikipedia page full of Russian journalists: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_journalists_killed_in_Russia
Any Spanish speakers here? Comenzamos con malas noticias desde Qatar, Grant Wahl falleció con 48 años de edad ⚫️El reporte de @A_EsparzaOteo desde el Hamad Hospital 🏥🔴 #LaCopaEsNuestra EN VIVO: @Unimas y @TUDNUSA 📺 pic.twitter.com/Lm6uRFJKe0— Republica Deportiva (@RepDeportiva) December 10, 2022
Huge loss for the American soccer scene. I'm stunned. The sport will seem different, to me anyway, without him covering it.
Grant was just among the very best sports journalists period. He had the very first LeBron James SI covet story.
That's true, like mountain climbers who die on Everest. Heck today was probably the best set of quarterfinal games in World Cup history. If you're a soccer journalist, being in the stadium covering Netherlands - Argentina isn't a bad way to go out. He probably wouldn't like to be associated with much of the rest of what's trending right now though... Some updates... US State Department The State Dept says it is engaging with Qatari officials over Grant Wahl's sudden death.— Sam Stein (@samstein) December 10, 2022 LeBron James LeBron James on Grant Wahl: "Very fond of Grant, and having that cover shoot, me being a teenager and him covering that, was a pretty cool thing. ... I've always kind of watched from a distance. ... It's a tragic loss. It's unfortunate to lose someone as great as he was."— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) December 10, 2022
I am so thankful for the support of my husband @GrantWahl's soccer family & of so many friends who've reached out tonight.I'm in complete shock. https://t.co/OB3IzOxGlE— Céline Gounder, MD, ScM, FIDSA 🇺🇦 (@celinegounder) December 10, 2022
This really blows. It was from reading Grant that I started following the USMNT. Too young to go this soon, younger than me. Hug the ones you love folks.
I get what you're saying, but nearly all of your examples were nationals of the country that killed them. Jamal was Saudi, killed in the Saudi consulate (technically Saudi ground) Anna was Russian Litvinenko was a Russian defector Magnitsky was Russian (Soviet born in Ukraine) Their reasoning in many of these cases was they spurned their "nation" and embarrassed them. Seen as traitors. Wahl is a US Citizen reporting the same thing that's being reported and has been reported for years since Qatar starting building for the WC. Probably thousands of articles from the guardian, amnesty international, CNN, Al Jazeera, NBC/ABC/CBS, BBC, hell even Netflix highlighted it in the FIFA documentary. It's just not common, thankfully that a nation such as Qatar would kill a foreign national reporting on something that's been constantly reported on for years. Obviously I'm sure we could find examples of killings of foreigners, but right now during this WC Qatar wants anything BUT a global incident. And killing an American journalist? crazy.
I have absolutely nothing to say except I lost a great friend today. I’m gonna post some stuff from our travels that made me smile and probably delete this app for a while. Sending love to Celine and everybody who felt this man’s grace and kindness.— Lee Feiner (@leefeiner) December 10, 2022 Check the thread out
Grant Wahl, one of the most well-known soccer writers in the United States, has died.Wahl was covering the World Cup match between Argentina and the Netherlands.More: https://t.co/I4Bd7BMjvM pic.twitter.com/tnNxp8qGSo— ESPN (@espn) December 10, 2022 Ryan Ruocco and JJ Redick take a moment during ESPN’s NBA broadcast to talk about Grant Wahl 🙏 pic.twitter.com/oKiVeBTcwD— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) December 10, 2022 Turn on TUDN now if you're able. They will have a report from the hospital in Qatar this hour.— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) December 10, 2022