German defender blasts ‘bloody loud’ vuvuzelas

They are made of plastic, are a metre long, as loud as a chain-saw and promise to be a noisy feature of the World Cup, but for Germany defender Arne Friedrich they are just ‘bloody loud’.

The vuvuzela – the traditional instrument for South African football fans – takes considerable effort to blow, sounds something like a fog-horn and when used by large crowds at a football stadium creates an incredibly loud noise.

The World Cup starts on Friday when hosts South Africa take on Mexico at Johannesburg’s Soccer City and many of the 90,000-strong crowd are expected to come with a vuvuzela in their team’s colours.

Some players have lobbied for the vuvuzela to be outlawed and critics have called on the sport’s governing body FIFA to ban them during matches, saying the sound drowns out voices rendering communication impossible for the teams.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has defended the vuvuzela as part of “African football culture”, but a University of Pretoria study has backed up the critics, warning repeated exposure to the vuvuzela’s blare risks hearing loss.

And Switzerland’s Hear the World Foundation – an initiative to raise awareness about hearing loss – said tests showed that, at full volume, a vuvuzela (127 decibels) is even louder than a chainsaw (100 decibels).

For the players, communication will be virtually impossible, but Hertha Berlin captain Friedrich said they are a factor of the tournament to which players players must quickly adapt to.

“Every nation has its own way to celebrate the game, while I am not a fan – I must admit they are bloody loud – you have to respect them and the longer we are here, the more we will get used to them,” said the centre-back here at Germany’s World Cup camp.

The Germans open their World Cup campaign against Australia in Durban on Sunday and team doctor Tim Meyer said he has advised his players to adapt to the extra noise as quickly as possible on the pitch.

“You have to adapt to it mentally, there will be plenty of noise involved in games, not just from the vuvuzelas,” he said.

He says more practical solutions could only further hinder communications on the pitch.

“You can think about adding ear plugs, but that would mean an even more serious communication problem on the pitch.”