26 Athlone News Wednesday July 1 2009 SPORT

The buzz of theConfederationsCup is gently fad-

ing into the SouthAfrican night and thereare questions if the“buzz makers” will bepresent when the WorldCup returns to SouthAfrican soil in 2010.

The vuvuzela, possi-bly originating fromZulu meaning “makingnoise” or from everyother language meaning“death to your ears andsanity”, is a long plastictrumpet used in South Africa to cre-ate a buzz at soccer matches.

The noise is often described asthe sound of an elephant althoughmany have described it as thesound of a swarm of bees.Nonetheless, the South Africanspirit horn is causing quite a stiramong the international commu-nity, some even calling for its banfrom the 2010 World Cup.

FIFA has received thousands ofcalls from angry fans complainingthat the sound of the vuvuzela isnot only distracting when watchingthe matches on television but it alsodrowns out the commentators.

Coaches and players have joinedin with the disapproving fans andhave voiced their displeasure.

Dutch soccer coach, BertVan Marwijk told reportersthat the sound of thevuvuzela interferes withhis ability to coach his play-ers on the field. Spanishmidfielder, Xabi Alonso,added that the noise makesit nearly impossible to com-municate between team-mates on the pitch, and thatit doesn’t add any atmos-phere into the stadium.

He also admitted thatthe noise makes it difficultto concentrate while play-ing.

Some fans at the stadium whocame to sit and enjoy a quite after-noon or evening of soccer, com-plained that the decibel level of thevuvuzela causes permanent eardamage. They claim the damage ismagnified when a die-hard BafanaBafana fan, sitting directly behindthem, blasts the vuvuzela right intotheir eardrum.

However, the only concern FIFAhas voiced over the vuvuzela cameout of a meeting in 2008 in whichthey conditionally approved thenoisemaker for the 2009 Confedera-tions Cup and the 2010 World Cup aslong as they remain free from logosand advertisements and as long as“hooligans don’t use the vuvuzelaas a weapon.”

Entrepreneurs have pointed tothe financial gains as the best rea-son to keep the instrument in thestadiums.

Upon the FIFA’s announcementin 2008 allowing the vuvuzelas,there were more than 20 000 plasticinstruments sold in a 24-hourperiod. Economists project morethan 50 000 additional instrumentssold during the World Cup nextyear. FIFA President Sepp Blatterremains in support of the vuvuzelaas a traditional African sound, butmany object to its African heritageclaiming that the instrument’s pro-totype was developed in America.

However, South Africans arequick to point out that life began atthe Cradle of Humanity located inMaropeng in Gauteng, and thuseverything comes from Africaincluding the vuvuzela.

No doubt, the debate will rageuntil the completion of the 2010World Cup, and the opinions will beas diverse as the countries partici-pating in the most watched sport-ing event; but as for now, keep prac-tising because the vuvuzela is hereto stay.

● John Adams is a journalismintern from the University of South-ern California who is currentlyworking at Cape Community News-papers which publishes the AthloneNews and 13 other titles.

The ‘buzzzzz’is here to stay■ Fans make themselves heard during a Confederations Cup game. PICTURE: RICHARD DUCHON

John AdamsReports

ADRIAN PFEIFER

It’s going to be Women’s Day at Kil-larney on Saturday July 4, featur-ing a full programme of champi-onship racing to which all womenwill be admitted free of charge. Another feature of the bumper 15-event programme is that it’s strictlya cars-only meeting.

And with Danica Patrick havingestablished herself as one of the bestdrivers in America after finishingthird in the Indy 500 last month, theprogress of women drivers likeAndrea Bate, Reinette van Rensburg,Jo Humble and Stephanie Makel-berger, will be followed with interest.

The first South African appear-ance of Egmont Baumgartner in theFormula Libre events should beanother absorbing feature of themeeting. Baumgartner is here fromEurope, where he has been racingwith considerable success. He hastwo cars, a Formula 3 MartiniRenault and a Formula BMW andplans to test them both before mak-ing his final choice.

The Nashua Porsche Cup Chal-lenge events are going to givePorsche GT-2R driver Laurent Grossa chance to be first across the lineagain. He was surprisingly beaten byNeil Hawkins in the NA CarreraSports and GT events at the mostrecent meeting.

The Indy Oil Clubman races have

attracted another huge entry. Andalthough the battle up front is likelyto be BMW against Volksie, theweather could still play a decisiverole, with racing in the rain oftenmore exciting than in the dry.

Although Datsun 140Z driverMartin Richards has been in greatform in the CAR Magazine Classicevents, big guys like Keith Rose

(Porsche 911) and Chris Carolin(Mazda Capella rotary) will be out toknock him over this time. There arealso going to be races for MakitaSupercars, the Powerflow GTi Chal-lenge and Fine Cars, The first eventdue off at 9am. Admission is R40 foradult males and R10 for school chil-dren under 16, but free for womenand children under- 12.

■ Start your engines ... It’s all systems go for a jam-packed, action filledday of motor racing at Killarney, on Saturday.

PICTURE: COLIN BROWN

Women feature in bumper racing programme