2010 FIFA World Cup: Why the Vuvuzelas Should Not Be Banned from the Games

After three fantastic World Cup days to date (even though there has been little scoring overall), there is now a possibility that this World Cup could lose one of its most important factors: The vuvuzela.

In case you didn't know, the vuvuzela is a three-foot long horn that is a large part of the South African football culture since it was first introduced in football matches in the Rainbow Nation back in the early 2000's on a mass scale.

Last year in the Confederations Cup, the vuvuzela made its introduction to the international stage to much criticism, as the noise was annoying for announcers and players to listen to.

Players such as Spain's Xabi Alonso stated, "The horns make it hard for players to communicate and concentrate, while adding nothing to the atmosphere."

France's Patrice Evra stated, "We can't sleep at night because of the vuvuzelas; people start playing them from six am. We can't hear one another out on the pitch because of them."

However, FIFA president Sepp Blatter stated last year that the vuvuzela would not be banned and stated saying, "We should not try to Europeanise an African World Cup."

Now with three days in the books in South Africa, crowds far and wide on the international stage have called for the trumpet to be banned, stating facts such as the vuvuzela can produce 130 decibels on one blow; 10 decibels above the human pain threshold.

Also, these "fans" state that the vuvuzela can also lead to the permanent loss of hearing.

But no matter what happens with all of this complaining, I want to see these vuvuzelas getting played as much as possible.

The vuvuzelas are an instrument that personify the South African spirit of football with each note blown.

Banning this instrument would be banning a part of the South African soul, and would be a dark mark that would forever be remembered by South Africans.

To a degree, I would argue that banning the vuvuzela would be like FIFA deciding to ban beer from the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Beer is a part of the German culture, and it too could be dangerous in many different ways (throwing it at other fans, consuming too much, etc.).

Now, of course, beer would never be banned from a World Cup, so why would the vuvuzela?

So what about the noise? If you are at home, live with it or mute your television if it gets that bad.

If you are fortunate enough to be in South Africa for the World Cup, odds are that you have already bought one (if not more) of the vuvuzelas already, and are blowing them from as early as six am until whenever your heart desires.

But if you didn't, just buy some earplugs and hope that they will drone out as much as possible for your liking.

Finally, the vuvuzela is an extremely important factor in this World Cup, and banishing it would be a move that would ruin this World Cup to me.