Like the way Saudi-Arabia lost so much after killing Khashoggi? I'm not saying there is foul play at work here from the Qataris, but if there was, what exactly in terms of real consequences do you imagine there would be for them? The West's utter dependence on such regimes was summed up by the German government making a deal with them days after their football team made a stand with the hands before mouths team photo.
Woke up this morning to this awful news. Before social media, before the explosion of the sport in this country...........it wasn't easy for us to find soccer coverage. GOOD soccer journalism was even more rare. Grant Wahl, and others brought the game to many people in a manner that wasn't as easily accessed as before. He unquestionably played a role in the growth of the sport in this country. One only has to see the outpouring from soccer players, staff, and officials this morning to understand his importance. A Hall of Fame place will come soon. One of my favorite pieces by Grant in Sport Illustrated, and it apparently was one of his favorites too, was the "MLS Ambition Rankings." He was a passionate advocate and lover of our sport, which came out in his work. He was a soccer geek long before being a soccer geek was cool. Let the quality of the work speak for itself. This is one of my favorites. Read the whole thing, but the quality is evident in the first two paragraphs. A Gringo's Game: The Tale of Clint Dempsey GRANT WAHL May 24, 2010 Clint Dempsey's style and the tale of his famous goal vs Juventus - Sports Illustrated The man wore crocodile boots, a white cowboy hat and a belt buckle the size of a license plate. Clint Dempsey doesn't remember his full name—hell, nobody in Nacogdoches, Texas, does—but you couldn't miss him on the sidelines of Nac-town's Mexican League games, amid the cigar smoke and the fajita carts and the horchata peddlers. He was the guy betting cash money on the cocky 15-year-old gringo to beat men more than twice his age, proud men from Mexico and El Salvador who'd throw you to the East Texas dirt for trying a fancy move on them. Sixty, eighty, one hundred dollars! The man kept wagering, and Dempsey's team, Zamora, kept winning. "He called me," says Dempsey, "his Little Rooster." Years before he would score in the World Cup for the U.S., the Little Rooster swallowed his fear, unleashing all the tricks he'd seen in his Diego Maradona highlight videos and noodled on in his grandma's backyard with his older brother, Ryan. Stepovers, nutmegs, dipsy-dos: The Little Rooster had everything, even moves without names, moves nobody had seen before. Childhood friend Frankie Rivera recalls one Mexican League game when Dempsey "did some kind of weird trick—it was so awesome—and the guy got mad and spit in his face. Clint just went at him. He had three guys trying to fight him, but he did good. He did good."
Not much different than what others have said here (of course I think I’m several pages behind the times). They say he went into cardiac arrest during the second half of extra time and they took him to the hospital during penalties. They mention that his brother thinks he was murdered and that he received death threats after wearing the rainbow shirt.
All those assassinations the OP mentioned; it wasn’t about “gain”, it was about sending a message to critics at home and abroad. It absolutely sucks about Wahl. I had my issues with his reporting and approach over the years but a soccer media in the US with Grant Wahl is undoubtedly better than what it will be without him. 49 is way too young.
Grant was intertwined with key soccer people in so many ways. In particular the Princeton connection with Bradley and Marsch. No one else was as plugged in and as knowledgeable and passionate. He mentored some wonderful young reporters now covering the game. They are part of his immense legacy.
Grant loved the game, told some wonderful long form soccer stories, and his human decency always came through. Didn't know him personally, but this has to be a huge loss to those who did. His wife is a top notch doc with connections to the White House, which she has already contacted along with the State Dept. She will get answers.
Infections don't kill via sudden death. Joking about a tweet and five minutes later being dead is not the natural history of infectious disease. I don't know what he died of, and I'm not saying it wasn't natural causes, but it wasn't an infection.
Terrible news. I always like and respected him. I hope they get a legit and complete autopsy. If something comes up, Qatar should suffer severe consequences.
I had a childhood friend who died under similar circumstances when he was just 26. He was a radio DJ for the old Z100 back in the 1980s, did the overnight show and then the Morning Zoo, then in the afternoons he did Man in the Street interviews. Really burned the candle at both ends. He came down with some kind of respiratory infection which he thought was bronchitis. He kept working through it and then suddenly had a heart attack and that was it. Awful. Willie was such a wonderful person. The Times misspelled his name (it was McFarland) and got his mother's name wrong, too (it's Toni, and she's still with us, living with her son Tom down south). But for what it's worth: William McFarlane, Disk Jockey, 26 - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
This was a very small community for a very long time. Prayers to his family because that's what matters most, but professionally Grant will be remembered as an architect of everywhere the sport is going in this country.
I mean, it’s far more likely that his “bronchitis” was actually the early stages of a cardiac event and some incompetent Dr misdiagnosed it at the hospital the other day and that’s what killed him. But given that Qatar has repeatedly demonstrated they don’t give any sort of crap what the western world think of them, there’s 1% of me that looks at the timing and is like hmmmm
Grant Wahl's dissident activity, if we can even call it that, was nothing compared to the level of Khashoggi's towards the Saudi Arabian government though.
Donovan literally did a podcast w/wahl during qualifying to review performances. I can’t see him keeping quiet for the man so to speak.
Grant Wahl was a dedicated colleague and friend to so many at FOX Sports. We remain shocked and saddened by his passing, and extend our heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathies to his wife, family, friends and colleagues. pic.twitter.com/PmWVdftKZl— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) December 10, 2022 1601584902537089024 is not a valid tweet id Honor his legacy by covering the issues he was brave enough to tackle but you don't for some rea$on.— LGBT.Soccer 🏳️🌈⚽ (@LGBTSoccer) December 10, 2022
Update: We are grateful to the US government for their help, esp the US ambassador to Qatar for his compassion. Our understanding is Grant's electronics have been secured. We are humbled by the conscientious care of the US embassy in Qatar w.r.t. Grant.— Eric Wahl (@ziplamak) December 10, 2022
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/grant-wahl-death-heart-attack-tribute-qatar-world-cup-6bzp3xfwq witness account - no defibrillator on site
Just feels absolutely messed up that the United States will host the World Cup in four years' time and Grant Wahl won't be there to see it.— Grace Robertson 🏳️⚧️ (@GraceOnFootball) December 10, 2022
I should clarify: I don't believe Grant was killed. I was merely suggesting that in a murderscenario, any possible western or U.S. reprisals would not factor much in the decision.
You never know what was going on with the ambulances. They could have already been in use. Or Qatar just incompetent and didn’t have any.