Nigeria Content Online

World Cup
authorities are doing tests on Thursday to check whether the
ear-splitting din from South Africa’s vuvuzela fan trumpets could pose
a security risk during the tournament.

Foreign fans and
players complained about the noise of the plastic trumpets, which sound
like a herd of charging elephants, during last year’s Confederations
Cup — a dress rehearsal for the soccer spectacular which starts on
June 11.

But FIFA President
Sepp Blatter said they were as characteristic of South African football
as bongo drums or singing in other countries and would not be banned.

Asked about the
vuvuzelas again on Thursday, chief local organiser Danny Jordaan said
the noise levels would be checked when South Africa play Colombia in a
friendly World Cup warm up on Thursday night at the 90,000-capacity
Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg, when noise levels are likely to
reach their peak.

“I think the
stadium operations require sometimes the attention of the people in the
stadium… for example, if there is an order to evacuate that stadium
and an announcement is made, you have to ask yourself, will everyone in
that stadium hear that evacuation order?” he said.

National anthems

Jordaan said the playing of national anthems would also require respect to be shown.

“We will look
tonight where, for the first time we’ll have a full stadium at Soccer
City, and then we’ll see whether or not levels of noise impact on the
efficiency of the operation,” Jordaan added at Johannesburg’s Ellis
Park stadium, one of the tournament’s 10 venues.

He said stadium
security and management would assess the impact of vuvuzelas after the
match and indicated fans may be asked to pipe down for emergency
announcements, without giving details.

“Can we have a
conversation, can there be instructions, is there difficulty because of
these noise levels? Then we will talk to the people,” Jordaan said.

Thailand manager
Bryan Robson complained earlier this month that he could not
communicate with his players during a 4-0 friendly drubbing by South
Africa at the new Nelspruit stadium, when around 40,000 fans were
present to blow the horns.

The former England
captain suggested the trumpets could give South Africa an advantage in
the World Cup, both by lifting their morale and deafening the
opposition, and said managers would have to find new ways to give
instructions to players.

But South Africa’s Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said they should take advantage of the din.

“We want it louder and louder,” he said.

South African scientists have warned fans to take ear plugs to World Cup matches to avoid damaging their hearing.