Grant Wahl Cause Of Death Revealed To Be Burst Artery, Brother Regrets Calling It ‘Killing’

Grant Wahl, the journalist who died while covering the World Cup on Saturday, had an aortic aneurysm, his family revealed. He collapsed in his seat at Lusail Stadium during the match between Argentina and the Netherlands and emergency service workers took him out on a stretcher.

His death resulted from a rupture in a blood vessel leading to the heart, according to an autopsy of Wahl, who was 49 at the time of death.

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Wahl’s wife, Dr. Celine Gounder, publicly confirmed his cause of death amid speculation that it was due to vaccine complications or nefarious action by the Qatari government. Gounder said she was “in complete shock” but felt “some relief in knowing what it was.”

The esteemed sports journalist had been a vocal critic of Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers and the LGBT community leading up to his sudden death. Prior to the U.S. opener against Wales in November, Wahl wore a rainbow t-shirt in support of LGBT rights. He tweeted that security guards refused to let him enter the stadium unless he changed his shirt.

In a video posted to Instagram, Wahl’s brother speculated that his death was linked to threats he’d received over wearing the shirt.

“I do not believe my brother just died, I believe he was killed,” his brother said, before walking back the statements a few days later. Friends and family were reportedly shocked about the aneurysm as Wahl was seemingly healthy.

In the days leading up to his death, Wahl displayed symptoms of a cold and posted to his newsletter that he felt his body was breaking down after an exhausting, sleepless run covering the World Cup.

“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,” he wrote. “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.”

Sports fans and journalists have expressed their shock and sadness at the loss of the prolific journalist, who wrote for Sports Illustrated for two decades before starting his own media site.

Keir Radnedge, a British sports journalist who was nearby at the time of his death, said Wahl “helped put soccer on the mainstream sports map in the States.”

“You come to a World Cup as a journalist to work, to share the stresses, the pressures but also the enjoyments and fascination of it – and to share that with your readers, your listeners, your viewers,” Radnedge said. “That’s what Grant was doing, that’s what he enjoyed doing. Everybody recognized that enthusiasm in him. So for him to not be with us anymore at such a young age, that’s an immense shock.”