WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — One of America's leading soccer reporters, who made headlines when he was detained at the Qatar World Cup for wearing a rainbow shirt, died Friday while covering the quarter finals in Doha, according to his wife and the United States Soccer federation.

Grant Wahl, 48, helped build soccer's popularity in the US through decades of vivid reporting at Sports Illustrated, then with CBS Sports.

According to NPR, Wahl collapsed in the press tribune as Friday's Argentina-Netherlands match was winding down. Paramedics performed CPR at the scene before taking him away on a stretcher. The Wall Street Journal said Wahl apparently suffered a heart attack.

Wahl said on his subscription newsletter earlier this week that he'd gone to a clinic at the media center in Qatar, "and they said I probably have bronchitis."

"My body finally broke down on me. Three weeks of little sleep, high stress and lots of work can do that to you… I could feel my upper chest take on a new level of pressure and discomfort," he wrote.

With some antibiotics and "some heavy duty cough syrup" Wahl said he was "feeling a bit better just a few hours later. But still: No bueno."