Qatari journalist Khalid al-Misslam dies ‘suddenly’ at World Cup after US' Grant Wahl

Qatari photojournalist Khalid al-Misslam passed away “suddenly” while covering the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Qatar on Sunday, shortly after American sports journalist Grant Wahl collapsed and died at Lusail Iconic Stadium a day before.

According to The Gulf Times, Khalid al-Misslam, who worked for local news outlet Al Kass TV and was covering the soccer tournament, died “suddenly” on the weekend. "We believe in Allah’s mercy and forgiveness for him, and send our deepest condolences to his family," Gulf Times wrote in a tweet.

However, the cause of his death remains unclear for now, as the news channel he worked for briefly shared his passing during a live broadcast. Al-Missam’s sudden death comes right after Wahl passed away at the age of 48 while covering the World Cup. According to Fox Sports, the prominent sports journalist collapsed at Lusail Iconic Stadium while he was covering the match between Argentina and the Netherlands on Saturday. He was later taken to the hospital but was declared dead. 

Is there foul play in the deaths?

The reason for Wahl’s death also remains unclear for now, but his brother Eric has accused the Qatari government of foul play, as the journalist was previously restricted to enter Ahmad bin Ali Stadium and was then detained by authorities for wearing a shirt displaying a football and a rainbow, a symbol to express support for the LGBTQ community.

The recent mysterious deaths have brought the government of Qatar under intense scrutiny, amid its crackdown on LGBTQ supporters at the ongoing tournament. Prior to his death, Wahl had openly criticized Qatar’s authorities for being apathetic to the migrant worker deaths. “They just don’t care. Qatari World Cup organisers don’t even hide their apathy over migrant worker deaths, including the most recent one,” he wrote in an article on his Substack account on Friday, just a day before his death.