The widow of the journalist who died in Qatar spoke and told the truth

The wife of famed soccer reporter Grant Wahl said on Wednesday the writer’s death last week while covering the World Cup was caused by the sudden rupture of an aortic aneurysm.

Celine Gounder she dismissed any suspicions about her death and said the diagnosis was determined in an autopsy conducted by the coroner’s office in New York City, where she and Wahl lived.

“The New York Medical Examiner’s Office performed the autopsy. Grant died of rupture of an undetected slow-growing ascending aortic aneurysm with hemopericardium. The chest pressure she experienced shortly before death may have been the initial symptom. Neither resuscitation nor shocks would save him. His death was not related to COVID. His death was not related to his vaccination status. There was nothing nefarious in his death.” the woman said on her social networks.

Grant Wahl died on Friday 9 December at the age of 48, while covering the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

According to early reports, Wahl was covering Argentina vs. Holland at Lusail Stadium when he passed out in the press area, where he was being treated by the medical service. Although Eric Wahl, Grant Wahl’s brother, initially pointed to the possibility of homicide, the official statement stated that the reporter had died of a heart attack.

After her husband’s death, Céline Gounder took to her social networks to share emotional memories in the company of the journalist, such as a 2018 Thanksgiving postcard and photos at friends’ weddings.

In 2009, Grant began covering exclusively soccer and became an influential voice in the promotion of men’s and women’s soccer in the United States, going on to author two books on some of the sport’s top players, published in The New York Times.

In 2021, when he began working independently, he continued to maintain the same levels of journalistic rigor that had characterized his career. Grant had a deep respect and appreciation for his audience.

Wahl was in the running for his eighth consecutive World Cup and a few days ago he was decorated by FIFA along with other journalists. He has been the top football writer for Sports Illustrated, the best sports magazine in the United States and possibly the world, for nearly 25 years. After his departure, he opened his own outlet, but he also joined CBS Sports, the outlet he worked for in Qatar.