Second journalist dies while covering World Cup in Qatar

• A Qatari journalist has died “suddenly” at Qatar’s World Cup — the second reporter fatality.
• There is little public information about how and when photojournalist Khalid al-Misslam died.
• Qatari news service Gulf News tweeted its condolences over his death on Saturday.

A Qatari photojournalist covering the World Cup in Qatar has died, according to local reports, bringing the number of journalist fatalities at the contest to two, following the death of US sports journalist Grant Wahl last Friday.

English-language Qatari news service Gulf News reported on Saturday the death of Khalid al-Misslam, citing the Qatari TV news outlet he worked for, Al Kass TV.

Few detail, such as when and how al-Misslam died, have been released, and Qatar’s Ministry of Health was unavailable for comment when contacted at time of publication.

According to Gulf News, al-Misslam 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,” the outlet added.

The news of his death follows that of Wahl, confirmed by the US Soccer Federation on Friday. Wahl’s brother, Eric Wahl, said he died en route to the hospital after collapsing as he covered Friday’s match between the Netherlands and Argentina.

The exact cause of Wahl’s death has not been confirmed. On December 6 he wrote on his blog that he had been diagnosed with probable bronchitis after a period of intense work.

His brother has since said that Grant received death threats after he wore a rainbow T-shirt, and was detained by Qatari authorities over that expression of support for gay rights. Eric said that he “no longer” believes his brother’s death was from bronchitis.

Late Sunday, he added that an autopsy is to take place in the US, after which the family will release a “proper statement.”

The night of Wahl’s death, a security guard was also critically injured falling from what an observer called a “significant height” from the Lusoil Stadium just north of Doha, The Guardian reported.