Prominent soccer journalist Grant Wahl died Friday after collapsing while covering the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Questions persisted about his death after his brother, Eric, took to social media to claim that Wahl did not die of natural causes. However on Wednesday, Wahl’s wife published a story on his Substack clarifying his manner of death.
“An autopsy was performed by the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office,” Dr. Celine Gounder wrote. “Grant died from the rupture of a slowly growing, undetected ascending aortic aneurysm with hemopericardium. The chest pressure he experienced shortly before his death may have represented the initial symptoms. No amount of CPR or shocks would have saved him. His death was unrelated to COVID. His death was unrelated to vaccination status. There was nothing nefarious about his death.”
Many had questioned Wahl’s cause of death after he had been an outspoken critic of the event being held in Qatar, which has one of the world’s worst human rights records. An immigrant work force reported in the thousands died while constructing the stadiums used in the country. Qatar also has harsh laws condemning LGBTQ+ members, which saw Wahl be detained from entering a match early in the tournament for wearing a rainbow t-shirt.
In his final post to his Substack, Wahl detailed comments made by Qatari Supreme Committee CEO Nasser Al-Khater acknowledging the deaths of workers building the stadiums. That only fueled speculation that his death was not of natural causes, but Gounder assuaged them in her post.
She also thanked everyone involved in ensuring her husband’s body was returned to the United States.
“Our sincere gratitude to everyone involved in repatriating Grant, in particular the White House, the U.S. Department of State, FIFA, U.S. Soccer and American Airlines,” she wrote.
