American journalist Grant Wahl died last week after collapsing while covering the World Cup in Qatar. His wife, Dr. Celine Gounder, said the 49-year-old died of an aortic aneurysm rupture.


"The autopsy was performed by the New York City Medical Examiner's Office. Grant died of the rupture of a slow-growing, undetected ascending aortic aneurysm with a hemopericardium. The chest tightness he experienced shortly before his death may have been the initial symptom. No amount of cardiorespiratory Neither resuscitation nor electroshock resuscitation would have saved his life," Dr Gund said in a post on her husband's social media platform Substack.

According to the CDC, an aortic aneurysm is a balloon-shaped bulge in the aorta, the large artery that carries blood from the heart through the chest and trunk.

"His death had nothing to do with COVID. His death had nothing to do with vaccination status. There was no nefarious reason for his death," Gund added.

Val has been credited for his contribution to helping boost football's popularity in the United States, covering some of the game's biggest stories.

Val wrote for Sports Illustrated for more than two decades before starting his own website.


Since Var's death, retired and current American football players and other sports figures have paid tribute to him.

After his body was returned to the US earlier this week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted: "I am so grateful to Grant Wahl, whose writing more than captures this beauty The essence of the game, but also captures the world of football."