During the ¼ finals of the World Cup between the Netherlands and Argentina, in which the “orange” played two goals in regular time, but lost in the penalty shootout, a tragedy occurred.
In the preslug, 48-year-old CBS Sports journalist Grant Val, an American, became ill and lost consciousness. The resuscitation actions taken by the doctors at the stadium did not yield any results, and the reporter died.
The cause of death is not yet known. True, back on December 5, the journalist wrote on his personal website that he did not feel very well. “My body is completely broken. Three weeks of virtually no sleep, a lot of stress and a lot of work can affect this. What had been a cold for the last 10 days turned into something more serious on the day of the USA vs Netherlands match and I felt my upper chest take on a new level of pressure and discomfort.” Val complained.
.jpg "За кілька днів до смерті Вал зустрівся з легендарним бразильцем Роналдо")
At the same time, Grant’s relatives suggest that his death was not accidental. The journalist could well have been killed because, while in Qatar, he repeatedly spoke out against discrimination against LGBT people, and also defended the rights of visiting workers who were preparing football facilities in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup.
“Football and journalism fans of the highest caliber knew we could always count on Grant to provide insightful and interesting stories about our game.”, - expressed condolences in connection with the death of a journalist at USA Football Federation (US Soccer).
We add that according to Val’s biography at the MIT Sloan sports analytics conference, he worked at at least ten world championships in various sports and five Olympic games. Grant was known for his work for Sports Illustrated and as a commentator for NPR. He also authored a book about David Beckham’s “foray” into American football called The Beckham Experiment, which became the first New York Times bestseller dedicated to European football.
Earlier reported that the referee of the Champions League Joan Amel, who had officiated the match with Lionel Messi a few days before, died suddenly.
Source: Fakty
