FIFA no longer allows fans to bring refillable water bottles into World Cup stadiums
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With the World Cup approaching and the summer heat, FIFA says it will no longer allow fans to bring their water bottles to the stadiums that will host the tournament, which has drawn anger from fans and politicians from the host city.
FIFA ground rules stated that fans could bring a transparent, reusable bottle of up to one litre.
The latest document posted on Tuesday now states that “for the avoidance of doubt, reusable water bottles will not be brought into the stadium.”
In Toronto, where BMO Field routinely allows empty, non-glass water bottles inside, city councilor Josh Matlow says he has written to Toronto’s FIFA secretary, asking him to reverse FIFA’s policy.
“They should discuss this with us rather than tell us, and work on a solution to ensure that people who are under the hot sun at 30 degrees or more during the long game will have access to drinking water,” he said.
“This is just a basic health and safety issue.”
Mayor Olivia Chow told reporters Thursday that she will look into what city hall can do to reverse FIFA’s policy, calling it “pure money laundering.”
Environment Canada predicts that 2026 will be one of the hottest years on record for Canada.
FIFA has decided to ban bottles from all the stadiums that will host the event “to protect the risk and injury to the players and those who will attend the event,” FIFA spokesman Adam Steiss said in an email.
FIFA is working with each city’s committee and local authorities to provide “heat reduction facilities” for fans en route to stadiums, such as mist and water stations, fans and cooling tents, Steiss said.
Water will be sold at prices that are “commensurate with other events held at each stadium,” he said.
The city says it is working to keep the public safe during this summer’s heat wave. CBC’s Mercedes Gaztambide breaks down the measures in place to keep people cool during the FIFA World Cup.
Water, sodas and juices sold at World Cup stadiums will be exclusively supplied by long-time FIFA sponsor Coca-Cola when the tournament kicks off next Thursday.
But paying for water won’t come down easily to fans who already have to pay for tickets that will run from hundreds of dollars at the low end, and thousands at the end, Matlow said.
“These are ordinary people who are saving to finally see something important to them, to have a real experience in their city, and now they will be told to spend more money to buy a Coca-Cola product,” he said. “That’s not right.”
BMO Field, dubbed Toronto Stadium for the tournament, will still offer free water. There are drinking fountains in four sections of the 45,000-seat stadium, according to the venue’s website.
But price isn’t the only concern, says Emily Alfred, an anti-waste campaigner with the Toronto Environmental Alliance.
“They’re forcing us to buy plastic water bottles,” he said, noting that if each fan in Toronto bought one water bottle per game, it would add up to more than 250,000 single-use bottles over six matches.
“It’s really depressing to think about the amount of waste that comes out of this.”
