To ban or not - the Vuvuzela controversy rages on

(William D. Ezah, GNA Special Correspondent in South Africa)

Pretoria, June 15, GNA - One instrument that has generated much controversy before and during the 2010 FIFA World Cup is the ever popular "vuvuzela" trumpet, which has been a dominant feature at the stadium during the ongoing world cup matches.


Such is the depth of the controversy that GNA Sports deemed it important to conduct a survey on the issue in the western part of Pretoria.


Perhaps the controversy that surrounds the vuvuzela is far deeper than the official football for the tournament - the "jabulani", which the players claim has excessive speed and thus affects their style of play.


With only a few days into the tournament, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the 2010 World Cup is pondering over whether to ban the use of the controversial trumpet within the stadium or not, with reasons that the sound at the stadium, if en masse, is more like a massive swarm of very angry bees that drowns television broadcasting.


This has sparked another controversy in the course of the tournament and has become the single item for discussion in the media since the LOC made that controversial statement on Sunday evening.

Following this development and of course, preceding ones, the vuvuzela has easily become a controversial instrument that has become part and parcel of the beautiful game in South Africa since the 1990.


Also known as the "Lepatata", the one meter long vuvuzela is by no doubt the most popular item in South Africa with every soccer fan possessing one, and it is blown throughout each game, producing a monotone like a foghorn or a sound of an elephant.


Since its introduction in 1990 in South Africa by a soccer fan of a local South African club, Kaiser Chiefs, the vuvuzela has become a feature at every South Africa game and has widely spread across the continent.


But the call for its ban has only been in existence since the 2009 Confederations Cup hosted by South Africa, with its ability to drown television broadcasting as the major argument against it.


In addition, players and officials have also complained of its effects on communication on the pitch, not just among them, but with officials, coaches and referees, whilst other arguments such as its tendency to drown public announcements at the stadium, in case of stampede and evacuation have also been advanced.

The likes of Christiano Ronaldo, Patrice Evra, Lionel Messi, among a tall list, expressed their displeasure at the instrument, even though English defender Jamie Charagher thinks otherwise, saying it does not affect him either, and has even bought two for his children.


Others have argued that the mass use of the vuvuzela at the stadium causes hearing defects, and this has been backed by some health organisations in Switzerland that deal with hearing, with some antagonists claiming it could be used by hooligans to cause trouble at the stadium.


The business community has not been left out of the criticism, as it has been identified as an effective tool for ambush marketing, with several corporate bodies designing branded vuvuzela's for free distribution ahead of the tournament.


Communication giants, MTN, but for their role as lead sponsors of the tournament, would have been cited for ambush marketing for distributing thousands of the branded instruments to fans days before the World Cup.


On the other hand, health experts are of the opinion that its rotational use by fans may be a channel for spreading flu among them.

In spite of the serious criticisms and concerns raised by critics, the vuvuzela remains the most popular cheer instrument and has become a symbol of the sport in recent times with multitudes of football fans developing a deep rooted emotional attachment to the instrument.


For this reason, there is no doubt that the vuvuzela will become one of the legacies that Africa will hand over to the world after the world cup tournament, since the Europeans, Americans and Asians could not resist the temptation of using it and are seen holding it to watch their matches.


Organisers of the tournament, the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) have on several occasions refused to ban the instrument purely on sentimental grounds and the statement by President Sepp Blatter in the heat of the debate seems to have summed up the issue.


According to the FIFA president, banning the vuvuzela will be an attempt to Europeanise an African world cup. For him, it is indeed an African World Cup, and must be used as the platform to demonstrate the culture of the continent, of which Vuvuzela is part.


However, Mr Blatter insists the instrument shouldn't be longer than one meter, but his pronouncements months before the start of the tournament only cooled off the debate against the use of vuvuzela temporary, as it has shown its head again.

A critical evaluation of the situation, points to the fact that the arguments made against the use of the vuvuzela at the stadium provide enough grounds for its ban.


On the other hand, its ban will affect the mood of the host nation and, of course, other African countries at the world cup, because of the deep rooted emotions attached to it by fans.


Historical checks revealed that it has an ancestry from the "kudu" horn - an instrument blown to summon African villagers to meetings in isiXhosa, mhalamhala in Tshivenda, and thus the noise-making trumpet of South African football fans has come to symbolise the soccer sport in the country.


This, therefore, gives an indication of the fact that it is part of the culture of the people and cannot be taken away, or else a very important aspect of the tournament would be lost. No wonder the insistence of FIFA spokesperson for the World Cup that the vuvuzela will not be banned.


The LOC and FIFA are indeed in a dilemma, and may be scratching their heads each day in search for a solution to the controversy surrounding the vuvuzela, as it continues to dominate proceedings at the tournament and the question of whether to ban it or not rages on.