FIFA World Cup 2010: The Vuvuzela to Blame for the Spike in Bad Officiating?

This World Cup will be remembered in the long run for mind numbing calls and for the vuvuzela.

However, it is starting to seem like there is an increasing possibility that the two could go together hand in hand.

Now that virtually every game of the tournament is being marred by some sort of officiating controversy, FIFA has decided to take a hard stance.

ESPN has reported that they have decided to ban replays from the stadiums' jumbo-trons.

While the sports world is collectively scratching their heads as a result of this new, absolutely ridiculous concept, it seems to be an admission from FIFA that the officiating is awful and that there is nothing they can do about it.

So that brings about the question, did officials just magically get infinitely worse in the past month, or is something causing the problem?

What could possibly have been added to the sport of soccer that might affect officiating?

The only thing I could think of is the vuvuzela.

If they want to get control of their sport again and restore some dignity to this World Cup, perhaps it is time that they throw South Africa under the bus.

I recently got my hands on a vuvuzela and blew into it, discovering that my television set wasn't lying. The vuvuzela is in fact, as far as I can tell, the maker of the most annoying noise in the world.

A group of people were "playing" a handful of them briefly at the showing of the USA-Ghana game I was at, and when they were going off, me and everyone else found ourselves so distracted we couldn't even focus on the screen.

Now I have to imagine that the officials, who are also on the playing field and surrounded by the obnoxious, plastic horns could quite easily have their ability to make quick judgments hindered by 20,000 idiots blowing into a monotone trumpet.

While there isn't a perfect correlation, it seems that the two biggest factors that have changed have been the addition of vuvuzelas to the World Cup and the spike in bad officiating.

FIFA has already refused to ban the toys as they believe they are an integral part of South African soccer culture. If that is the case, and it is affecting the quality of the games, having the tournament in South Africa was a colossal mistake to begin with.

The reasoning could carry over to any group of idiots at any sporting event anywhere in the world claiming that they could engage in an obscene public activity under the broad umbrella of protection deemed, "culture."

While fans from countries such as England, Mexico, and the United States have been given great reason to complain, it seems that their complaints have continuously fallen on deaf ears.

It is highly probable that is because the officials in charge were actually made deaf by the incessant buzz of the stadiums.

The noise made by the vuvuzela should only be created in one circumstance on planet earth: as a warning sign that a swarm of gigantic killer bees is preparing to attack a heavily populated area.

It isn't too late to save the rest of this tournament from international embarrassment by banning the vuvuzela.

For the sake of all the teams in the quarterfinals, perhaps it is time FIFA reconsidered.