American top football journalist Grant Wahl, who fell ill Friday night while covering the World Cup quarter-final game between Argentina and the Netherlands, has died.
CNN is reporting that organisers said Wahl “fell ill” in the press area, where he received “immediate medical treatment on site.”
He was then transferred to Hamad General Hospital, said a spokesperson for the Supreme Court Committee for Delivery and Legacy, the body responsible for planning the tournament.
The circumstances around his death are not clear.
It appears the unfolding tragedy went unnoticed by fans who were watching the pulsating match that ended 2-2 after extra time.
With less than seven minutes to the end, the Netherlands fought back from 2-0 down to level the scores.
Aston Villa’s goalkeeper Emi Martinez was Argentina’s hero in the penalties.
The former Arsenal goal minder saved the first two Netherlands spot-kicks from Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis.
In the end, Argentina triumphed 4-3.
It has since emerged that in an episode of the podcast Futbol with Grant Wahl, published days before his death on December 6, he had complained of feeling unwell.
“It had gotten pretty bad in terms of like the tightness in my chest, tightness, pressure. Feeling pretty hairy, bad,” Wahl told co-host Chris Wittyngham in the episode.
He added that he sought help at the medical clinic at the World Cup media center, believing he had bronchitis.
Wahl had made headlines in November by reporting that he was detained and briefly refused entry to a World Cup match because he was wearing a rainbow T-shirt in support of LGBTQ rights.
He is the second person to die in recent times that was connected to the football tournament.
A Filipino national, contracted to fix lights at a training site for the Saudi Arabian soccer team, also passed away earlier this week.
He died in a forklift truck accident after slipping off a ramp and hitting his head on a concrete floor, reports said.
