FIFA World Cup 2010 - Vuvuzelas: A South African World Cup Controversy
Before the World Cup started in South Africa, there were fears over a number of different factors that could possibly affect the largest sporting event in the world, second only to the Olympics. A few of the factors included in this list of worries were, lack of infrastructure, the crime rate in South Africa, terrorist attacks and other issues of a similar nature. However, the beginning of the tournament presented a very different problem. The ear drum bursting, obnoxious sounds, of the vuvuzelas, the sounds that could be heard like bees buzzing all around the South African stadiums, no matter which team was on the field. Now none of the participating countries appreciated the noise and the players of just about every team found it very distracting, but the reason why FIFA could not have the instrument disallowed was because, the Africans love them so much. The problem here is that almost everyone else doesn’t.
South African officials responsible for the organization of the World Cup have maintained that banning the Vuvuzelas is not an option and there are many who would agree. After all, the world cup is much more than a sporting event. It gives a chance to the host country to express its culture and express them-selves. They have argued that there is no foot-balling argument against the vuvuzelas and so it seems, they are here to stay.
Van persie would care to disagree. During the match between Netherlands and Denmark, the Dutch striker was yellow carded for time wasting when he took a shot after the referee had blown for offside. Van persie claimed that the yellow card was unfair on the basis that he could not hear the sound of the referees whistle over the noise from the vuvuzelas. Another prominent player to complain about the noise is Cristiano Ronaldo who said that the horns affected his concentration levels during the game.
South African Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, however, has spoken out against the criticism leveled against the Vuvuzela. He urged fans to continue blowing the horns and even encouraged them to get louder, especially if it would give the home nation an advantage as they look to secure an unlikely place in the next round.
Regardless of everything else, the quality of football should be the top priority for all football organizers. If the vuvuzelas are causing even half the issues being reported by the players, it is imperative that FIFA take some action. Matters of football should take precedence over everything else since this is a ‘Football World Cup’.
Another group of people the organizers need to worry about are the fans. People from all over the globe have travelled to South Africa in record numbers and anything that negatively affects their experience should be sorted out so that they continue to do so in the future. The television audience is even bigger in numbers, and a lot of the television producers have complained about the standard of coverage being affected due to the vuvuzelas.
It remains to be seen whether FIFA will actually take any action. In all likelihood, they won’t. Valid arguments have been presented by both sides but it appears that the South Africans will be the ones who get their way since this is their world cup and interference from FIFA will not be tolerated. However, one would hope that in future tournaments the organizers are more mindful of such things and above all, the fans are able to enjoy their football without rupturing their ear drums.
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