FIBA Bans Vuvuzelas at Upcoming World Championships
FIBA, the world governing body for basketball, announced today that Vuvuzelas will be banned from the 2010 World Basketball Championships. The event is slated to take place in Turkey August 28th to September 12th.
The Vuvuzela earned global coverage at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, in part due to the searing criticism it received. Many complained it sounds like a horde of bees, or a herd of elephants. The pitch of the device, a resounding 127 decibels, could easily be heard watching the televised games.
Despite complaints, Sepp Blatter, President of FIFA, determined that Vuvuzelas would not be banned since they represented a vital part of South African culture and tradition.
Rich Mkhondo, capturing a sentiment indicative of many in South Africa, said: “Vuvuzelas are here to stay and will never be banned. People love the vuvuzelas around the world. Only a minority are against vuvuzelas.”
Even Nobel Peace Prize Winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu expressed an affirmation for the instrument.
FIBA’s decision comes in the wake of various other sporting institutions banning the device, such as the Premiership in England, and La Liga in Spain. The latter stated that the high pitch could be harmful to the ears, and hence harmful to the league’s players.
Soccer sensation Lionel Messi went as far as to say that he could not hear his teammates on the field during the World Cup due to Vuvuzela blowing.
“It’s impossible to communicate. It’s like being deaf,” Messi complained.
Aside from gaining criticism in various spheres, the Vuvuzela has also inspired new business prospects and opportunities for many. Neil Van Schalkwyk, attributed with the invention of the official 2010 design, came across the idea after seeing someone blow a similar horn device at a soccer game.
Schalkwyk began with 500 trumpets in 2001, but just a year later he caught a break when a company bought 20,000 in a promotion. Sales for his invention have reached-well over the $1-million (US) mark, despite the instrument being cheap ($5 US). Low cost is being seen as one of the reasons for its success.
Schalkwyk's motto is that the Vuvuzela “sprinkles one with noise.”
FIBA’s ban registers as the first major international tournament to forbid the device.
Secretary general Patrick Baumann of FIBA said the Vuvuzela isn’t suitable for indoor use and that the loud noise could create problems for referees trying to communicate during games.
“Besides our responsibility to protect the well-being of our athletes and fans alike, the sound level in an indoor sport arena could create communication problems between the referees and that could have a direct negative impact on the game,” he mentioned.
In a statement released on their website, FIBA asked fans not to bring the instruments and added harshly that it would confiscate any Vuvuzelas found at the entrance to games.
"We are urging fans not to bring the instrument to stadia because they will be confiscated by security staff and anybody who manages to smuggle one into a venue might end up missing the game.”
Games for the World Basketball Championships will be played in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and Kayseri.
The FIBA World Championship is a world basketball tournament for men's national teams held quadrennially. The gold medal given to the winning team is considered equally prestigious as the Olympic Basketball Tournament gold medal. The Champion team likewise wins the Naismith Trophy, first awarded in the 1967 tournament.
The tournament structure is similar, but not identical to that of the FIFA World Cup. Since 1970, both international competitions have been played in the same year. A parallel event for women's teams, the FIBA World Championship for Women, is also held quadrennially, in the same year as the men's event, but in a different country.
Tags: