Several English football clubs have banned vuvuzelas from their grounds on match days on account of safety concerns.
Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Arsenal are the highest-profile clubs to announce that the plastic horns will not be allowed inside their stadia. The instrument came to prominence during the recent FIFA World Cup in South Africa where it was described as a symbol of African culture. But television stations airing the matches were flooded with complaints from viewers about the ‘droning’ noise created by thousands of fans continuously blowing the instrument during the games.
A number of fans have called for vuvuzelas to be banned at all football grounds across the country, claiming the noise could pose risks to public safety. Spurs banned the horns amid fears that the noise could prevent fans from hearing safety announcements. A statement on the club’s official website said: “We are concerned that the presence of the instruments within the stadium poses unnecessary risks and could impact on the ability of all supporters to hear any emergency safety announcements.”
West Ham United have also introduced a ban stating that the instruments could potentially be used as a weapon. A club statement said: “Under the current health and safety regulations at the stadium, which already disallow musical bands, we would not allow them (vuvuzelas) into the stadium as they could be considered a weapon.”
The HSE would not be drawn on whether it supports calls for a widespread ban, but acknowledged that the horns could potentially cause hearing damage. An HSE spokesman said: “As with any source of high sound levels, vuvuzelas could potentially cause hearing damage under certain circumstances, and where there is such a risk we would expect an employer to take proportionate, sensible measures to protect their staff.
Anybody concerned about noise levels in their workplace should visit our website for advice.”
One club which will be allowing fans to bring vuvuzelas to matches is Oxford United, who won promotion back to the Football League in May. The club’s communications officer, Chris Williams, told SHP: “We will not be banning the vuvuzela at the start of the season but will monitor the situation as we go along. Obviously, the noise is what people focused on at the World Cup but there may be safety issues as well.”
