You can take your flag, your shirt, your voice, but your empty reusable bottle? That's staying outside.

The lowdown – via cbinewstv:

Right, FIFA has done a full U-turn just days before the tournament kicks off. Fans will no longer be able to bring refillable plastic bottles into World Cup stadiums, after the governing organisation quietly changed its policy on 2 June.

It is a big shift. The old Stadium Code of Conduct actually let ticket-holders bring in an empty, transparent, reusable bottle up to one litre. Now? Nothing at all. FIFA says it is to "prevent risk and injury to players and attendees".

Here is their defence, word for word:

"FIFA is committed to protecting the health and safety of all players, referees, fans, volunteers and staff. FIFA 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."

They also promise heat help around the grounds – misting stations, fans, hydration stations, cooling tents, and say water prices inside will stay "consistent with other events held at each stadium". For context, The Athletic reported water was going for $4 to $6 (about £3 to £4.50) at last summer's Club World Cup in the US.

Fans are not buying it. The Free Lions, the England supporters' embassy, went straight to X:

"What next? Sun cream banned and fans forced to buy it in stadiums? For all of the effort they are going to with 'drinks breaks' for the players, this is such a strange, late change... Naturally, the immediate thought from supporters is this is just the latest money-grab. For how hot the stadiums will be, many in open air, just let fans bring a bottle if they want to."

They added: "We hope the water fountains in stadiums will still be free, hopefully you aren't charged in the queue!"

And the heat is not a small detail. Researchers at World Weather Attribution warned last month that nine of the 104 World Cup matches could be played above 26°C Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, the point where players' union FIFPRO says safety measures should kick in. Around five matches are even projected to top 28°C, the level FIFPRO advises postponement.

Dr Theodore Keeping from Imperial College London, who co-authored that study, put it bluntly: "Allowing fair and equitable access to hydration is a basic first defence against the extreme heat risks climate change is bringing to this World Cup."

FIFA has at least kept the three-minute hydration breaks in each half for players, but for fans in the stands with no bottle, no shade, and a $6 water in hand – it feels like the wrong kind of protection.

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