Just a week before kick off, football chiefs say supporters cannot take re-fillable bottles into scorching stadiums and must pay for water – despite medics’ health warnings
FIFA has been accused of putting profit above fan safety by banning reusable water bottles at the World Cup – leaving spectators at risk from killer 100F heat.
Just a week before kick off football’s governing body u-turned on plans to let supporters take refillable plastic water bottles into stadiums so they can stay hydrated in sweltering temperatures.
Now they have banned the bottles saying they fear fans will throw them at each other or players.
The bar means scorched supporters will have to pay for bottled water instead.
At the FIFA Club World Cup in the US last summer fans were charged up to $6 – £4.47 – per bottle of water.
A spokesman for the Football Supporters’ Association said: “Yet again with this World Cup it is ‘fans last’ and not ‘fans first’.
“The heat and humidity is a real concern for fans’ welfare.
“It should be this that is FIFA’s main focus and not the ability to sell more bottled water at inflated prices.”
Just three weeks ago FIFA’s official Stadium Code of Conduct included a clause saying: “For the avoidance of doubt, empty, transparent, reusable plastic bottles, up to (1 litre in) capacity, may be brought into the Stadium.”
Now FIFA has informed World Cup ticket holders it has updated the code of conduct and ‘reusable water bottles are no longer permitted’.
“For the avoidance of doubt, reusable water bottles may not be brought into the stadium,” it said.
FIFA said it made the decision to ‘prohibit bottles to prevent risk and injury to players and attendees’.
“Outside bottles are already prohibited at several of these venues for safety considerations and FIFA is applying this consideration across its tournament stadiums,” it said.
“FIFA works closely with each Host City Committee and local authorities on heat mitigation factors for fans traveling to the stadium, which can include resources such as misting stations, fans, hydration stations, cooling tents, and more around the stadium footprint.
“Inside the stadium footprint pricing for water bottles for the FIFA World Cup 2026 will remain consistent with other events held at each stadium.”
In a 52-page report last month World Weather Attribution’s scientists said up to 26 of the tournament’s 104 matches could be played in dangerous heat.
There was a one-in-three chance the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature – which measures how effectively the body cools itself – will exceed 28C during England’s opening match against Croatia in Texas, US, on June 17.
That is the equivalent of playing in 38C – over 100F – and the point at which world players’ union FIFPRO says matches should be postponed.
The AT&T Stadium is air-conditioned meaning the Three Lions will be protected.
But supporters – particularly at outdoor fan festivals – will face the full force of the scorcher.
Dr Chris Mullington, a consultant anaesthetist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, warned conditions could kill.
He said supporters were particularly vulnerable as they ‘may be exposed for much longer than the match itself – walking to the stadium, queuing in direct sun, attending fan zones, sitting in exposed seats and travelling home on crowded transport’.
“They’ll probably not hydrate very well the night before,” he said.
“They might not sleep very well, and then they might have some beer during the day. And gradually they’ll get hotter and hotter and hotter. They probably won’t wear a hat.
“They may wear their sports shirt, or, as they sometimes do, they might be not wearing a top, and exposing themselves to those risks as well.
“Then what happens is someone who has got that blocked coronary suddenly finds they’re dehydrated and they’re pushing all their blood flow to their skin, and suddenly not enough blood flow is going to their heart, and they suffer a heart attack that they wouldn’t have suffered were they not in that situation.
“You can sort of draw parallels with the excess deaths that you see during heatwaves in the UK.”
Dr Mullington said measures FIFA had introduced to protect players – with three-minute mid-half hydration breaks – did not go far enough to mitigate the heat impact.
He said fans should get free bottles of drinking water and cooling misting sprays.
Dr Friederike Otto, professor of climate science at Imperial College London, said as temperatures rise in future FIFA should move World Cups from summer to winter as they did in Qatar in 2022.
“It would definitely be advisable to have these either earlier in the year or later in the year to have the ability to have a football party and not something that is a massive health risk,” Dr Otto said.