World Cup fans barred from bringing water bottles into stadia

NEW YORK – FIFA has banned fans from bringing refillable water bottles into World Cup venues in a last-minute policy change that will force thirsty supporters to pay for bottled water, The Athletic reported on Wednesday. As recently as last month, FIFA’s official stadium code of conduct included a clause which read: “For the avoidance of doubt, empty, transparent, reusable plastic bottles, up to (1 litre in) capacity, may be brought into the Stadium.” However, The Athletic reported on Wednesday that those guidelines had now been tweaked to explicitly ban refillable bottles.