A second journalist covering soccer’s World Cup in Qatar died Saturday, with no clear explanation for his death having yet emerged.
Khalid al-Misslam, a Qatari photojournalist working for Al Kass TV, has died according to the Daily Mail.
Al Kass TV photojournalist Khalid al-Misslam passed away recently.
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. pic.twitter.com/M1ZyoBJWkW— Gulf-Times (@GulfTimes_QATAR) December 10, 2022
Gulf Times, a Qatar-based news outlet, issued a tweet about his death saying the photojournalist passed away ”recently.” As of Monday, no further information had been released about his death.
The timing of the second death of a journalist, coming on the heels of Friday’s passing of reporter Grant Wahl, raised eyebrows, with one soccer training facility in the U.S. tweeting, “What is going on?”
It has been reported that Al Kass TV photojournalist Khalid al-Misslam died suddenly on Saturday while covering the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
What is going on?
— Cruz Coaching (@CoachingCruz) December 11, 2022
A second journalist dies in Qatar whilst covering the #WorldCup. Photojournalist Khalid al-Misslam from Qatari news channel Al Kass TV passed away on Saturday; a day before that, US soccer journalist Grant Wahl, 48, collapsed at the match between Argentina and the Netherlands. pic.twitter.com/yy7tXdQl8B
— Monica Grayley (@MonicaGrayley) December 11, 2022
Wahl’s brother, Eric, issued comments after his brother’s death suggesting his brother could have been murdered, noting the reporter’s antipathy to the Qatari government, according to the New York Post.
Eric Wahl issued more comments about his brother on Twitter.
In NYC now. Can update that Grant did go to hospital in an ambulance. Colleagues followed in an Uber. There was no available AED onsite, though it sounds as though it wouldn’t have made a difference, if my understanding of the medical situation is correct. G comes home tomorrow.
— Eric Wahl (@ziplamak) December 12, 2022
Regardless of the outcome, I have nothing to apologize for. Thoroughly corrupt people & organizations remain thoroughly corrupt people & organizations & must always be held to scrutiny & account. This World Cup never should have taken place where it did.
— Eric Wahl (@ziplamak) December 12, 2022
On the day before he died, Grant Wahl said he had bronchitis, according to the Post.
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“My body I think told me, even after the U.S. went out, ‘dude, you are not sleeping enough.’ It rebelled on me. So I’ve had a case of bronchitis this week. I’ve been to the medical clinic at the media center twice now, including today,” he said on his podcast.
“I’m feeling better today I basically canceled everything on this Thursday that I had and napped. And I’m doing slightly better. I think you can probably tell in my voice that I’m not 100 percent,” he said.
Also on Saturday, a World Cup security guard fell from what has been described as a “significant height” after Friday night’s quarter-final game between Argentina and the Netherlands, according to the Guardian.
The guard is reported by the Guardian to be a migrant worker and was in stable but critical condition.
A Filipino national hired to fix lights in a car park died earlier in the tournament after a fall.
After the worker’s death, Nasser al-Khater, the head of Qatar’s World Cup operations, said, “death is a natural part of life — whether it’s at work, whether it’s in your sleep.”
