One week ahead of the start of the 2026 World Cup, FIFA reversed its decision to allow “empty, transparent, reusable plastic bottles” up to 1 liter (1 quart) to be refilled at taps in its 16 stadiums across North America. While FIFA claims they are concerned for the safety of players if fans throw heavy reusable bottles at the pitch, critics say the change is in pursuit of profit—as buying plastic bottled water within the stadium is likely to be costly for fans. Just days later, FIFA has backed away from a total ban on brought-in water, stating on social media: “all fans will be permitted to bring in one, soft, plastic, 20 ounces (590ml), factory sealed disposable water bottle into any FIFA World Cup 2026 match in the USA and Canada.”
Still, a ban on reusables—even plastic reusables—undermines global progress being made to normalize reuse and refill, and instead panders to the bottled water industry that is actively undermining access to safe, public water to further their business interests.
Bottled Water Undermines Access to Safe Drinking Water
Bottled water is a big business. Globally, more than 1 million plastic bottles are sold every minute, and around 600 billion plastic bottles are produced every year. An estimated 2,000 times more energy is needed to produce bottled water than to supply tap water. And those bottles never go away. Municipalities have to pay massive sums to deal with plastic bottle pollution and the few bottles that are reclaimed.
Plastic bottles most often end up in landfills or incinerators, are shipped overseas under the guise of “recycling” only to be dumped and open-burned, leading to further serious pollution, injustice, and greenhouse gas emissions. In all cases, plastic bottles—like all plastics—break up into micro- and nanoplastics, polluting our bodies and environment.
Reusable Water Bottles Are Commonsense
However, reuse and refill is becoming increasingly normalized as the public demands action to address plastic pollution to benefit public health and the environment: New York City Council passed a bill that took effect last year allowing fans to bring empty reusable bottles into venues, saying the city can make it easier for people to do the right thing. Many stadiums in Canada, including BC Place Stadium, which will host several World Cup matches, already allow reusable bottles.
Nontoxic and plastic-free reuse and refill containers—such as those made from food-grade stainless steel and glass—are the gold standard, as plastic reusables can shed microplastics and plastic chemicals much like single-use plastic bottles. Still, even if FIFA allowed plastic reusables, it would prevent a significant number of single-use plastic bottles from being consumed and discarded: More than 6.5 million spectators total are expected to attend the games of the expanded 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Cup’s 104 games could produce upwards of 8 million pounds of trash—or one Super Bowl’s worth of trash per game.
A Watered Down Policy on Hydration at the World Cup
With high temperatures expected at the games, and even before FIFA’s reversal of its decision, scientists noted that FIFA’s heat safety measures are “inadequate.” Add to that a lack of stadium airflow and often lengthy travel required to get to the games, there is a real risk of heat exhaustion and heat stroke for fans who can’t easily access water. Access to water should not depend on the ability to purchase it from the bottled water industry that continues to profit from a basic human need.
FIFA,
Hello.
Plastic Pollution.
You are part of the problem, you are not part of the solution.
Sadly.
Way past time to change your ways.