by laza » Tue Jun 15, 2010 10:19 am
THE incessant drone of the vuvuzela may finally be silenced with the BBC in talks to air "clean" World Cup games.
The broadcaster was yesterday discussing options to transmit noise-free or clean games minus the blaring of the South African horn after receiving more than 200 complaints from viewers.
Debate has raged over the instrument that has drowned out crowd chants with its furious beehive sound.
The sound emitted by a vuvuzela is equivalent to 127 decibels, according to a South African survey.
That makes it louder than a drum's 122 decibels, a referee's whistle at 121.8 decibels - and close to the noise of a jet taking off at 300m, which is around 130 decibels.
Sound bursts at such high levels "are catastrophic" for hearing, as they destroy hair cells in the inner ear, of which there is a small and non-renewable population of only 15,000, said French specialist Mireille Tardy.
The South African manufacturer has now announced a "vuvuzela lite".
"We have modified the mouthpiece, there is now a new vuvuzela which will blow noise that is 20 decibels less than the old one," said Neil van Schalkwyk, a partner at Masincedane Sport.
"We hope to sell these at park and ride areas and public viewing areas," added Van Schalkwyk, whose company owns the vuvuzela trademark.
Argentina's Lionel Messi said it was impossible to communicate with players due to the noise, saying, "it's like being deaf."
But South African goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune complained there were not enough vuvuzelas in the stands and called on supporters to make even more noise.
There are mixed messages coming from the South African organisers.
"Vuvuzelas are here to stay and will never be banned," a World Cup organising committee spokesman said.
But yesterday head of the committee Danny Jordaan said he would consider a ban.
"We have asked for no vuvuzelas during national anthems or during stadium announcements. I know it's a difficult question," he added, saying that "we're trying to manage the best we can".
"We heard from the broadcasters and individuals and it's something we are evaluating on an ongoing basis."
Jordaan told the BBC in an interview that he had to consider the option of banning the trumpets.
"If there are grounds to do so, yes," he said.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter supports the trumpets.
"I have always said that Africa has a different rhythm, a different sound," he said in a Twitter update.
"Would you want to see a ban on the fan traditions in your country?"
But while the ear-splitting plastic trumpets might end up muted in the BBCs screenings, their drone is gaining popularity outside the stadiums of South Africa, and they are predicted to be a common sound at sporting events across the world.
The horns sold out in supermarkets across the UK and virtual vuvuzela apps are soaring on the Apple iTunes charts.
During England's game against America on the weekend the horns were blasted in English pubs and constant shipments have been ordered from South Africa.
Supermarket chain Sainsbury's sold one "Vu Vu" horn every two seconds on Saturday- shifting 22,000 of the instruments in 12 hours before England's game.
It expects to sell out of its extra order of 25,000 horns before Friday's game against Algeria.
Online store Amazon said sales had increased by 1000 per cent since the World Cup started.
David Broughton, from the England-based company thevuvuzelaman.co.uk, said the country was gripped with "vuvuzela fever".
"We sold 1000 online over the weekend. Someone in Dubai has asked for 10,000. If anyone knows of half a million vuvuzelas lying around, they could get very rich," he told British newspapers.
Anti-vuvuzela groups have spread across social networking site Facebook.
One page calling on Fifa to ban the horn has 167,388 members.
But iPhone owners have embraced the vuvuzela turning their phones into a virtual trumpet.
There are currently 12 vuvuzela apps available from Apple's App Store, with one being downloaded more than 750,000 times.
It is the most popular free app in the Entertainment downloads.
Users can blow into their iPhone microphone to simulate the blaring trumpet noise
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