Photo: Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty
The U.S. State Department has confirmed that it is working with Qatari officials to return sports journalistGrant Wahl’s body back to the country.
Ned Price, the department’s spokesperson,released a statementon Twitter a day after Wahl’s death. He had been covering the FIFA World Cup in Qatar when he collapsed during a match and waspronounced deadat the age of 48.
“We were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Grant Wahl and send our condolences to his family, with whom we have been in close communication,” Price said. “We are engaged with senior Qatari officials to see to it that his family’s wishes are fulfilled as expeditiously as possible.”
Per ESPN, in aprevious statement, the World Cup organizing committee said, “We are in touch with the US Embassy and relevant local authorities to ensure the process of repatriating the body is in accordance with the family’s wishes.”
The shocking news of Wahl’s death rocked the U.S. soccer community, and many reporters who are covering the FIFA World Cup have released their own tributes to the sports reporter.
FOX Sports host Rob Stone alsoopened the station’sFIFA World Cup Live Showwith a short salute, saying, “We’re going to celebrate the game with heavy, heavy hearts.”
“Yesterday, the American soccer community suffered an unspeakable loss,” Stone said. “Renowned, massively influential journalist Grant Wahl passed away here in Qatar while covering this tournament.”
Ryan Hunt and Stephen Cannella, the co-editors in chiefSports Illustrated— where Wahlworked as a reporter for 24 years—released a statementsaying they were “proud to call him a colleague and friend for two decades.”
“No writer in the history ofSIhas been more passionate about the sport he loved and the stories he wanted to tell,” they continued. “Our hearts go out to Céline and his family, as well as everyone who loved his work. He will always be part of theSIfamily.”
Thus far, a cause of death has not yet been released.
On hisFútbol with Grant Wahlpodcast on Thursday, Wahl discussed feeling unwell over the past few weeks.
“My body told me, even after the U.S. went out, ‘Dude, you are not sleeping enough,’ and it rebelled on me. So I’ve had acase of bronchitis this week,” he said. “I’ve been to the medical clinic at the media center twice now, including today. I’m feeling better today, I basically canceled everything on this Thursday, that I had, and napped.”
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He added in the podcast that he was feeling “slightly better” but still wasn’t back to “100%.”
“Three weeks of little sleep, high stress and lots of work can do that to you,” he 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.”
source: people.com
