An American sportswriter died from an aortic aneurysm while covering the World Cup in Qatar, his widow has said.

Grant Wahl, 48, a former Sports Illustrated journalist who later moved to podcast publishers, Substack, died while reporting at the match between Argentina and the Netherlands.

In a written statement, his widow Dr Celine Gounder, said: “Grant died from the rupture of a slowly growing, undetected ascending aortic aneurysm with hemopericardium.”

An aortic aneurysm is a bulge or swelling in the aorta, the main blood vessel that runs from the heart down through the chest and stomach, according to the NHS. It can be dangerous if not caught early and can get bigger over time and possibly burst, causing life-threatening bleeding.

“First and foremost, on behalf of myself and our family, I want to express our deepest gratitude for the outpouring of support, love, and sympathy from around the world,” Dr Gounder wrote.

Mr Wahl, who had moved to the Substack online publishing platform, had been tweeting about the Netherlands-Argentina match on Friday when he collapsed.

His agent earlier said he had appeared to suffer some kind of acute distress during the quarter-final match.

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US reporters sitting near Mr Wahl said he fell back in his seat during extra time, in a part of the stadium reserved for journalists.

They had called for assistance and, while emergency services responded very quickly, they were later told that Mr Wahl had died.

Last week, Mr Wahl wrote about visiting a hospital while in Qatar and that health officials told him he likely had bronchitis.

His body was flown back to the US on Monday, where the New York City Medical Examiner’s office performed an autopsy.

“While the world knew Grant as a great journalist, we knew him as a man who approached the world with openness and love,” Dr Gounder wrote.

“Grant was an incredibly empathetic, dedicated, and loving husband, brother, uncle, and son who was our greatest teammate and fan. We will forever cherish the gift of his life.”

She added: “No amount of CPR or (defibrillator) shocks would have saved him,” Gounder said on Wednesday.

Mr Wahl said last month that he was briefly detained when he tried to enter a World Cup stadium in Qatar while wearing a rainbow shirt in support of the LGBTQ community.

Same-sex relations are illegal in Qatar.

Detained for wearing rainbow shirt

He said on Twitter that he was detained for 25 minutes for wearing the shirt, with security guards “forcibly” taking his phone and demanding that he remove the shirt before going into the stadium.

He said he had refused.

Mr Wahl also wrote on Monday that he had visited a hospital in Qatar, saying: “My body finally broke down on me – three weeks of little sleep, high stress and lots of work can do that to you.”

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