White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Saturday that State Department officials are in touch with Grant's family and senior officials in Qatar \"to ensure his family gets the support they need.\"

\"Grant Wahl was an inspiration to many,\" Jean-Pierre tweeted. \"Our thoughts are with his wife Dr. Céline Gounder and all those who loved him.\"

State Department spokesperson Ned Price similarly tweeted Friday that the department is \"engaged with senior Qatari officials to see to it that his family's wishes are fulfilled as expeditiously as possible.\"

\"We were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Grant Wahl and send our condolences to his family, with whom we have been in close communication,\" Price tweeted.

\"PHOTO:
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images, FILE
PHOTO: Sports reporter Grant Wahl speaks on a panel discussion in New York, April 8, 2014.
>

Wahl was temporarily detained by security in Qatar at the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium for wearing a shirt with the gay pride flag for the USA-Wales World Cup match last month.

\"Security guard refusing to let me into the stadium for USA-Wales. \"You have to change your shirt. It's not allowed,\" he tweeted.

Just now: Security guard refusing to let me into the stadium for USA-Wales. \"You have to change your shirt. It's not allowed.\" pic.twitter.com/TvSGThMYq8

— Subscribe to GrantWahl.com (@GrantWahl) November 21, 2022

Wahl was a renowned writer in soccer and covered the sport for many years at Sports Illustrated. He spoke with \"Start Here\" in November about his expectations on covering the World Cup. He had spent time in Qatar earlier before arriving for the games.

\"I wanted to do a story and do some actual reporting on the topic of migrant workers in Qatar. Nearly 90% of the workforce in Qatar is not Qatari. They're coming from East Africa, West Africa, the Indian subcontinent [and] the Far East. And they're taking on jobs of construction, working in domestic situations and houses, hotel workers [and] all sorts of things that migrant workers are doing in Qatar. But the history is that they're not paid well. They're not treated well. A lot of people have died,\" Wahl said.

ABC News' Davone Morales contributed to this report.

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