Are South Africa’s Vuvuzelas Backfiring?

Do you hear that buzzing noise? That’s the sound of South Africa’s World Cup dreams dying a slow, painful, Vuvuzela-fueled death.

The plastic trumpet, which is popular at South African football matches, was supposed to be a symbol of the host nation’s love for the game. But from the moment that the Vuvuzela made its world debut at last summer’s Confederations Cup, the instrument has been the source of more criticism and backlash than a British Petroleum oil spill.

And for good reason, too. Vuvuzelas have been linked to permanent hearing loss and the spread of disease. Most importantly, they’ve drowned out any semblance of a crowd atmosphere at the world’s most popular sporting event. And now they’ve claimed their first victim, too: South Africa itself.

South Africa’s route to the knockout stages was never going to be easy, but they did have home advantage on their side – which is never more valuable than at the World Cup.  The weather is familiar, the food is familiar, your friends and family are nearby. It should feel like playing in your own back garden. But with thousands of Vuvuzelas blaring at this year’s World Cup, it’s impossible to tell whom the crowd is rooting for – if they’re even rooting at all.

That’s no doubt robbed South Africa of an important psychological advantage. And now, coming off a loss to Uruguay yesterday, the Bafana Bafana must defeat France in their final match to have any chance of progressing. If they don’t, they would become the first host nation to fail to qualify from the group stages at the World Cup.

The natural next question would be, who will fall next? Several top players have recently claimed they can’t hear their teammates, they can’t hear their coaches and they can’t hear themselves think above the drone of the Vuvuzela. (We must admit, we watch half the games on mute.) But FIFA continue to stand by their decision to allow Vuvuzelas at the tournament, arguing that European football traditions should not be imposed on Africa.

If you put it like that, then they can stay. But maybe the South Africans should think twice the next time they pick up a Vuvuzela and blow their World Cup dreams away.

South Africa suffer from one too many Vuvuzelas