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Columnists

Missing my World Cup

Mike Davies

I would like to congratulate South Africa on their successful bid to host the world for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
I am a sports fan. I will watch the most entertaining sport on television over almost all else. The World Cup is the largest sporting event in the world. I look forward to following this tournament every four years. Having said that, I will go on to say that I cannot watch the 2010 FIFA World Cup. To be completely honest, it’s mainly the noise. This overbearing chorus of vuvuzelas (the large horn traditionally used to celebrate in South Africa) is too much for me to handle. It sounds like I’m sitting directly below a hive of angry bees and it’s very annoying. According to the players and coaches themselves, it is causing quite a problem in communication on the field. This changes the sport itself. You do not have the right to change a sport just because you’ve been chosen to be the host venue. It is one thing to be loud, but another to be obnoxious. It’s disrespectful to the sport, its players and its fans for you to unapologetically affect the game, and people’s enjoyment of the game, in this way. At the time this article is being written, the 2010 FIFA World cup is on pace to be the lowest scoring World Cup in history--and that’s really saying something for a soccer tournament. The demand for earplugs at the event has far outstripped the supply. The vuvuzela has been scientifically proven to cause permanent noise-induced hearing loss…so it’s not only is the noise annoying people all over the world but there are medical ramifications to its use. After fielding numerous complaints, FIFA President Sepp Blatter commented on their use asking, “Would you want to see a ban on the fan traditions in your country?”
To him I say this—if a fan tradition in my country changed the way in which the game is played and made it less enjoyable for the fans around the world to watch, then yes. During a world event hosted in my country, I would like to see those traditions banned. If the Winter Olympics were somehow awarded to Detroit, Michigan, do you think there would be an octopus thrown on the ice during every hockey game? Do you think the host city could simply say, “Suck it world…that’s how we celebrate here,” and the world would accept that?
Somehow, I think not.