The New Sound Of Soccer

By: Sylva Nze Ifedigbo - Published 2009-11-06

If you have not noticed anything else or have not seen any thing to admire about the ongoing FIFA U17 World cup (Nigeria 2009), you certainly would have heard the buzzing sound, the type you here in a colony of large flies, emanating from the stadiums during the matches. This is the new sound of football. The sound of the Vuvuzela.

The Vuvuzela has become the new idiosyncrasy associated with football just like the Brazilian samba drums and the Mexican wave has been in the past. The Vuvuzela is a vociferous air horn that reverberates around arenas with rare energy. Sometimes called a "lepatata" (its Setswana name) or a stadium horn, it is a blowing horn, approximately one metre in length, commonly blown by fans at football matches in South Africa. The origin of the name is disputed. It may originate from the Zulu for "making noise," from the "vuvu" sound it makes, or from township slang related to the word for "shower."

The vuvuzela came to international attention during the run-up to the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup, both hosted in South Africa. The world football governing body, FIFA, wanted to ban the use of vuvuzelas during the World Cup 2010 because of concerns that hooligans could use the instrument as a weapon and that businesses could place advertisements on vuvuzelas. However the South African Football Association (SAFA) made a presentation that vuvuzelas were essential for an authentic South African football experience, and FIFA decided in July 2008 to drop the ban. Vuvuzelas were allowed at matches during Confederations Cup 2009 and are expected to be allowed at World Cup 2010 in South Africa.

But before we get to the world Cup proper, the Vuvuzela is here in Nigeria and offers the biggest source of attention here at the ongoing FIFA U17 world cup, but this time there is a Nigerian twist to it. Nigeria 2009 has taken the Vuvuzela revolution to a whole new height with the advent of the tiny vuvuzelas, some looking like simple hand harmonica’s not the popular South African long trumpet-like pipes which are held easily by fans and blown during the matches.

For certain reasons, I have not been able to be at the stadium to watch any of the matches, a situation i feel ashamed to admit given my love for the game, but I have followed all the matches on television and nothing has been so present that it now seems to be the main identity of the games than the tiny vuvuzelas. I admit that at the start of the Confederations cup in South Africa earlier in the year, I had initially felt irritated by the unusual buzzing unmelodious sound coming from the stadium. Today however, it feels like something that goes with the games, something my brains has now so attached to football that when I watch the English Premiership matches, I feel something is missing.

I see this as Nigeria leaving its own mark on the game and contributing to a ‘culture’ that is sure to climax at the FIFA world cup in South Africa later next year. The Nigerian Vuvuzela’s should indeed become the model of vuvuzela as they are easy to carry, and are miniature which take away the concerns that it can be used for football hooliganism which had been FIFA’s worry with the long trumpet pipes.

As the games progress, lets celebrate what we’ve got; something we have modified and are selling to the rest of the world; the new sound of football with all the excitement it brings. The tiny Vuvuzelas that has given the games the true African touch. Viva Vuvuzela, I can’t wait to get my hands on one.

Sylva Ifedigbo

Article Source: http://nigerianarticles.com

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