CORAL GABLES, Fla: FIFA has made a late change of policy to bar World Cup fans from bringing refillable water bottles into the tournament’s 16 stadiums across North America including some with limited or no shade from the sun. The “Stadium Code of Conduct” update was criticized Thursday by an English fan group, which argued FIFA had given assurances on carrying empty plastic bottles to fill with freely available water at a tournament where heat and extreme weather are expected to be a factor. “Naturally, the immediate thought from supporters is this is just the latest money grab,” the Free Lions fan group said in a statement. Water, sodas and juices sold at World Cup stadiums are supplied exclusively by long-time FIFA sponsor Coca-Cola when the tournament starts next Thursday. Andrew Giuliani, who is the executive director of the White House Task Force for this year’s World Cup, said conversations are ongoing with FIFA about the decision. “Certainly understanding that fans with bottles — if anything is frozen there, they can throw that, utilize it as a weapon,” Giuliani said to a group of reporters, including The Associated Press, Thursday at a World Cup kickoff event in Miami. “That’s something, frankly, that we are still in discussions with FIFA about.
