Vuvuzela - Football fun or curse?

The sound of the Vuvuzela horn has been the only sound heard at the World Cup 2010 so far as tens of thousands of South African fans have enthusiastically blown the World Cup horn as loudly and for as long as they can drowning out all other sounds in the various world cup stadiums.

The drone of the horns has split the football viewing public with many fanswatchingat home complaining that the constant drone is spoiling their viewing pleasure. However theVuvuzelaiscausinga more practical problem for officials and teams, forcing them to ask the question, is it damaging their health?

A study of supporters who had attended a Premier League football match in South Africa found that the average noise exposure during the near two hours fans were in the stadium was 100.5 decibels (dB) and peaked at 144.2dB. The research, reported in theSouth African Medical Journal, tested the impact on 11 fans.

For the english players and officials, this will mean that under British health and safety law (The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005), players and staff may exceed their daily limits for exposure to noise in aslittleas 30 minutes in the stadium during a game.

Were thetournamentbeing held in the UK, in order to limit the noise exposure of players and staff further it would be necessary to either ban the horns, or supply staff and players with hearing protection which they would have to be made to wear.

Sepp Blatter (President of FIFA) has refused to ban the Vuvuzela on account of its traditional ties to the South African game, citing that he feels to do so would be discriminatory.

However, some of the players have complained that the racket puts them off their game. We ask should they be more concerned about their health, indeed should the FA be concerned for them?