The death of a third journalist at the World Cup in Qatar was announced on Monday. He is Roger Pearce, technical director of ITV Sport and joins Grant Wahl and Qatari photojournalist Khalid al-Misslam. His death occurred on November 21 and was announced on ITV’s own broadcast ahead of the Wales-USA match.
“We have very sad news to bring you from here in Qatar,” said presenter Mark Pougatch. “Our technical director, Roger Pearce, who was here for his eighth World Cup, sadly passed away. Roger was a highly respected figure in the sports broadcasting industry, for ITV he was instrumental in the logistical planning and coverage of the Rugby World Cup, Football World Cup and European Championships,” said the presenter. “He always had a smile on his face and left a smile on your face,” he said, calling Pearce “professional and extremely popular.”
El hermano de Grant Wahl asegura que lo han asesinado
The news has become topical following news of two other deaths on Qatari soil. Pearce, 65, began his career as an engineer at Grampian TV and worked on other ITV channels such as TVS and Meridian, before joining the ITV sports channel full-time in 2001 and becoming its technical director in 2008. As explained by Neil Stainsby , BBC Journalist and friend of Pearce, the ITV technical director was due to retire in 5 weeks.
Repatriation of Grant Wahl’s body
The body of American sports journalist Grant Wahl was repatriated this Monday to the United States. “We can confirm that this morning, Grant Wahl’s remains and belongings were repatriated to the United States,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told a press conference.
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Price assured that the U.S. Embassy in Doha “has worked very closely with the family” of the journalist to “fulfill their wishes,” and detailed that members of the consular corps accompanied Wahl’s remains on the flight back to his country.
At the request of the family, the journalist’s body was delivered to a medical center in New York for an autopsy. The U.S. diplomacy spokesman said the body showed no signs of a violent death and assured that the collaboration with the Qatari authorities was “excellent”.
Eric Wah, the journalist’s brother, said on social networks that Grant Wahl had received death threats and suggested he was murdered, but later retracted his statement.
Sports journalist Grant Wahl, a great soccer reference in the United States, died on Friday at the age of 48 while covering the quarterfinal match between Argentina and the Netherlands.
The specific cause of his death is not known at this time. In his blog, Wahl explained last Monday that he had had some health problems in recent days and that he received treatment in Qatar for what appeared to be bronchitis.