DESPITE the hundreds of complaints from broadcasters, supporters and players, World Cup organisers say they will not ban vuvuzelas from stadiums in South Africa. The almost constantly regular sound of the horn- like tool has forced some viewers watching the 2010 World Cup games on TV to do so with the volume down low. A World Cup spokesman insisted vuvuzelas are "ingrained in the history of South Africa" and will remain so. Rich Mkhondo also said vuvuzelas had worldwide appeal. "Let us not make this a South Africa instrument alone," he said. "A vuvuzela is now an international instrument. People buy them and stuff them in their suitcase to go home. "Only a minority are against vuvuzelas. You either love them or hate. We in South Africa love them." FIFA President Sepp Blatter also weighed into the debate and believes vuvuzelas are part and parcel of football in South Africa. "I have always said that Africa has a different rhythm, a different sound," he commented on the social networking site Twitter. "I don't see banning the music traditions of fans in their own country. Would you want to see a ban on the fan traditions in your country?" French captain Patrice Evra has already criticised the vuvuzela by complaining about the noise generated by it, claiming that his side's recent poor display against Uruguay was due in part to the sound of the instrument. "We can't sleep at night because of the vuvuzelas. People start playing them from 6am," Evra said. "We can't hear one another out on the pitch because of them." Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo added his voice to the protest. "It is difficult on the pitch to concentrate. A lot of players don't like them." Holland's Robin van Persie even complained to the referee about the noise in their game against Denmark. Some experts say that the three-foot plastic horns, as loud as a jet engine, can do permanent hearing damage, according to the British Mirror newspaper. Crystal Rolfe, from the Royal National Institute for the Deaf, said: "They have been measured to reach more than 125 decibels. A pneumatic drill is between 90 and 100 decibels so it's much louder than that. "If you listen to sounds over 85 decibels for a prolonged period it can cause temporary or permanent ear damage." But Mkhondo said the low buzz of the horns was a key part of Africa's first ever tournament News agencies
