“If they allowed it last year and originally for this tournament then I find the security argument a bit hard to believe,” Evain said. “It shows water is unfortunately still seen as a commodity but it’s not, it’s a matter of health. We don’t know how expensive a bottle of water will be inside the stadium because no prices have been published.

“Fifa explained previously that part of their response to the heat risk was the water bottles. So what does it mean now to take it away, and what mitigation measures are they taking? It’s already a very expensive World Cup. People will look for alternatives or just not drink water when they should.”