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A renowned American sports journalist died while covering a tense quarterfinal game on Friday, according to his family. The writer had a run-in with Qatar’s World Cup organizers last month over a rainbow LGBTQ shirt.

Grant Wahl, 48, contributed to the growth of soccer’s appeal in the United States by providing colorful reporting for outlets including Sports Illustrated, CBS Sports, and other publications.

In the press tribune during Friday’s Argentina-Netherlands game, Wahl passed out. According to the Wall Street Journal, he may have had a heart attack.

Celine Gounder, a well-known epidemiologist and the wife of Wahl, wrote on Twitter, “I’m in total shock.”

A Qatar organising committee spokesperson said “he received immediate emergency medical treatment on site, which continued as he was transferred by ambulance to Hamad General Hospital.”

“We offer our deepest condolences to Grant’s family, friends and his many close colleagues in the media,” the statement added.

The University of Calabar has ordered the cessation of the practice of “water ritual’’ in the school, describing it as unwholesome and not academic.

Students randomly pour water on matriculating and graduating students as part of the “water ritual” as a “initiation rite.”

The vice-chancellor, Prof. Florence Obi, ordered the end to the practice, which she claimed was no longer acceptable and constituted rights abuses, according to the registrar of the university, Mr. Gabriel Egbe, who made the announcement in Calabar on Friday.

“The vice-chancellor has directed that the practice be discontinued against the backdrop of a viral video in which a female student was subjected to indignity at the last matriculation.

“In the video clip, a group of young men indulged in inhumane and barbaric action.

“Besides the official discontinuance of the unacceptable act, a committee has been set put to investigate the ugly act meted on the female student and those found culpable will be sanctioned appropriately.

“The Acting Chief Security Officer, retired Capt. Austin Bisong, and other relevant officers in the university have been tasked to ensure that the ugly episode never occurs again,’’ Egbe stated. (NAN