CORAL GABLES, Fla (AP) — 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. They made their announcement yesterday, so I don’t want to comment on it just yet.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino was also at the event in Miami beach Thursday evening but did not take questions from reporters.
Giuliani added there is a balance between preparing for hot temperatures and monitoring security risks.
“Understanding these games are going to be very hot. We want to make sure that fans have access to water, so that way they can be hydrated,” he said. “We also want to make sure that everybody is safe and that people can't bring a weapon in there. So those conversations are still ongoing.”
FIFA’s stadium rules had stated that fans could bring in a transparent, reusable bottle up to one liter, or 33.8 oz. capacity.
The latest document dated Tuesday now states “for the avoidance of doubt, reusable water bottles may not be brought into the stadium.”
“In all of our discussions,” the England fans’ group said, “free water availability in stadiums was a key one and we were assured by FIFA that this would be the case.”
In a statement Thursday, the world soccer body said the decision to prohibit bottles — which could be thrown — was "to prevent risk and injury to players and attendees.”
“FIFA is committed to protecting the health and safety of all players, referees, fans, volunteers, and staff,” it said.
FIFA said some of the 16 stadiums had already prohibited fans from bringing water bottles, so the policy would apply across them all.
With temperatures at 32 Celsius (90 Fahrenheit) and above expected in many of the U.S., Mexican and Canadian cities hosting the 104 games, FIFA said “heat mitigation” for fans approaching stadiums would include “misting stations, fans, hydration stations, cooling tents, and more.”
“Inside the stadium footprint, pricing for water bottles for the FIFA World Cup 2026 will remain consistent with other events held at each stadium,” the soccer body said.
FIFA has reacted to expected heat in some outdoor stadiums by enforcing three-minute drinks breaks midway through each half at all games. Critics have said turning all games into four quarters was to create more breaks for broadcasters to sell advertising.
“For all of the effort they are going to with ‘drinks breaks’ for the players, this is such a strange, late change,” the Free Lions fan group said of the water bottle ban.
AP Sports Writer Alanis Thames in Miami Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
England forward Harry Kane stands near sprinklers during a training session for the national soccer team in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Tuesday, June 2, 2026, ahead of the World Cup soccer tournament. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
MCKINNEY, Texas (AP) — Prosecutors told jurors Thursday that a Texas teenager competing at a high school track meet provoked a 17-year-old athlete from a rival team before fatally stabbing him in the stadium's bleachers as other students looked on.
An attorney for Karmelo Anthony said his client did not instigate the fight with Austin Metcalf, telling the jury at the start of a packed murder trial near Dallas that it was instead an act of self-defense.
Anthony pleaded not guilty over last year's stabbing, which stunned an affluent suburb where the pair attended school. The death last year quickly drew wide attention, in part because of social media posts that amplified the case in racial terms. Anthony, now 19, is Black, while the Metcalf was white.
According to an arrest report, Anthony told police he was protecting himself when the two got into a confrontation during the meet in Frisco, a fast-growing city is dotted by dozens of modern-looking school campuses and gleaming athletic facilities.
But prosecutor Bill Wirskye told jurors it was a “senseless murder” and not a case of self-defense. He called it a “sneak, surprise attack” and said Anthony “knows he goaded the murder.”
“He didn’t want a fight,” Wirskye said of Metcalf.
The jury was seated this week under increased courthouse security and a Collin County judge set strict rules over the proceedings, including prohibiting attorneys from discussing the case publicly. Dozens of people lined up to get a seat in the courtroom Thursday.
The stabbing happened on a rainy morning in April 2025. Witnesses told police the confrontation began when Anthony sat under a tent belonging to Metcalf's team, according to an arrest report. The teens went to different schools in Frisco.
When Metcalf told Anthony that he needed to move, Anthony reached inside his bag and allegedly replied: “Touch me and see what happens,” the report said.
A short time later, Metcalf allegedly grabbed Anthony, who then pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest, the report said.
Robert Starr, a track coach at Memorial High School, where Metcalf was a student and athlete, explained to jurors that a tent at a track competition “marks your spot” and is similar to a team bench in other sports.
“You just don’t go into someone else’s tent uninvited,” Starr testified.
In his opening remarks, defense attorney Mike Howard said it was Metcalf who made the first contact.
“In that split second, Melo has a decision to make: how and when to act,” Howard said.
"Self-defense is useless if you wait too late to defend yourself. ... He reacts in a split second of fear, chaos,” Howard said.
Starr told the jury that he rushed to the tent when he saw commotion.
“I see Austin on the ground and his face is purple, and he has a big hole in his chest,” the coach said, choking up in the witness chair.
Another area track coach, Vincent Hooper, testified that he put his arm around Anthony and asked what had happened.
Anthony replied that he stabbed someone who had "put his hands on me,” Hooper recalled.
Anthony faces up to life in prison if convicted of murder.
The parents of both teens have said they were good students who planned to go to college. Metcalf's father has condemned those who seized on the race of the teenagers after the killing.
“This was not a race thing. This is not a political thing. Please do not comment if you do not know what happened,” Jeff Metcalf said on Fox News' “America Reports.”
“This is a human being thing,” he said. “This person made a bad choice and it affected both his family and my family forever.”
Authorities have also issued warnings about online discussions surrounding the killing. Frisco Police Chief David Shilson urged people last year to beware of posts spreading “misinformation, hate, fear, and division."
Associated Press writer Ed White in Detroit contributed.
A courtroom sketch, provided by Pat Lopez shows Karmelo Anthony, center, at the defense table, the jury on the left and the presiding judge on the right, on Thursday, June 4, 2026, in McKinney, Texas, during the trial of a teen accused of fatally stabbing another during a track meet in suburban Dallas last year. (Pat Lopez via AP)
The Collin County courthouse is shown Thursday, June 4, 2026, in McKinney, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Supporters for Karmelo Anthony demonstrate in front of the Collin County courthouse Thursday, June 4, 2026, in McKinney, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
A courtroom sketch, provided by Pat Lopez shows Karmelo Anthony, center, at the defense table, the jury on the left and the presiding judge on the right, on Thursday, June 4, 2026, in McKinney, Texas, during the trial of a teen accused of fatally stabbing another during a track meet in suburban Dallas last year. (Pat Lopez via AP)
