Second Reporter Dies While Covering the World Cup in Qatar

Warner Todd Huston(Breitbart)

A second sports journalist has died in Qatar while covering the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The Gulf Times initially reported the death of Qatari photojournalist Khalid al-Misslam who they say “died suddenly” over the weekend, Fox Sports reported.

“Al- Misslam, a Qatari, died suddenly while covering the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. We believe in Allah’s mercy and forgiveness for him, and send our deepest condolences to his family. We are all Allah’s and to Him we return,” the Qatari outlet said of the deceased journalist.

Neither the Qatari government nor the local media outlets revealed the circumstances of the journalist’s death, but this was the second death of a journalist at the World Cup this year.

Al-Misslam’s death came only hours after long-time soccer reporter Grant Wahl, 49, died after collapsing at the Lusail Stadium while covering the quarter-final game between Argentina and the Netherlands.

Wahl caused a stir this year by wearing an LGBTQ-themed shirt during the games in the infamously anti-gay country. And that act caused Wahl’s brother, who is gay, to charge that the journalist was murdered by Qatari operatives.

However, Wahl had taken himself to the World Cup’s medical facilities complaining of exhaustion and other ailments only a few days before he died in the stands during Friday’s game.

Later reports noted that he had been forced to take several days off from covering the games because he was ill, had a bad case of bronchitis, and was having trouble sleeping.

Wahl is survived by his wife, Dr. Celine Gounder, a clinical associate professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine and CBS News contributor.

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