World Cup 2010 With Vuvuzela

The vuvuzela has been the subject of controversy. Its high sound pressure levels at close range can lead to permanent hearing loss for unprotected ears after extensive exposure. A study found the maximum sound output varied between 113 and 131 dBA. In response to the controversy, a new model has a modified mouthpiece that reduces the volume by 20 dB. However, international commentators, players and audiences call to ban vuvuzelas at football matches.
This type of plastic horn or trumpet has been used in Mexican stadiums since the 1970s. Originally made out of tin, the vuvuzela became popular in South Africa in the 1990s. Well-known Kaizer Chiefs F.C. fan Freddie "Saddam" Maake claims to have invented the vuvuzela by adapting an aluminium version as early as 1965 from a bicycle horn after removing the black rubber to blow with his mouth. He later found it to be too short and joined a pipe to make it longer. Maake has photos of himself in the 1970s and 1980s at local South African games and international games in 1992 and 1996 and at the 1998 World Cup in France, holding the aluminium vuvuzela. He says the instrument was banned as authorities ruled it a dangerous weapon, which prompted him to find a plastics company that could manufacture it.