Recent Posts
The FIFA World Cup in South Africa in June next year will be marked by the trademark shrills of the noisy vuvuzela. The plastic “annoying” trumpet, sometimes called a "lepatata" (its Setswana name) or a stadium horn, is a blowing horn, approximately one metre in length, commonly blown by fans at football matches in South Africa. The origin of the name is disputed. It may originate from the Zulu for "making noise," from the "vuvu" sound it makes, or from township slang related to the word for "shower."
Vuvuzelas have been said to be rooted in African history, but this is disputed. People would blow on a kudu horn to call villagers to a meeting. Adding to the appeal is African folklore that "A baboon is killed by a lot of noise." During the last quarter of a match, supporters blow vuvuzelas frantically in an attempt to "kill off" their opponents. Drums are also used dirug matches adding to that African carnival mood.
Any fan worth their salt will also know that it is up to them to make noise to create the best possible atmosphere inside the stadium. So any one thinking that the vuvuzela have to done away with better look for ear muffs and run onto the pitch.
In Europe, fans can turn a stadium into a cauldron of noise by singing, chanting and setting off flares. In Africa, we tend to bang the drum and dance while others have little trouble whistling for 90 minutes.
In South Africa, not many people will take your football credentials seriously if you turn up at the stadium without a vuvuzela. So why all the fuss about this plastic trumpet?
Unique to South Africa, the vuvuzela appears to have put the wind up many people - especially in Europe. We heard the Spanish midfielder Alonso complaining that the din is too much for concentration on the pitch. Well the flares on the European soccer night remind us of the torching of houses during tribal wars at home. And it can be very traumatic, but we are not complaining!
The electrifying atmosphere generated by the ubiquitous instrument during Confederations Cup has left many of the onlookers spell bound. But many in Europe say the incessant blowing in the terraces is irritating and have complained that it is drowning out their TV commentators. They do have to put up or shut up!
Fifa president Sepp Blatter recently revealed that broadcasters want the instrument banned at next year's World Cup. But to his eternal credit, the Fifa chief also sprang to the defence of the humble trumpet, saying people must accept that it is part and parcel of football in South Africa.
"That is what African and South Africa football is all about - noise, excitement, dancing, shouting and enjoyment," said the most powerful man in world football. I could not have put it better myself. Banning the vuvuzela would take away the distinctiveness of a South African World Cup. It is a recognized sound of football in South Africa and is absolutely essential for an authentic South African footballing experience.
After all, what would be the point of taking the World Cup to Africa, and then trying to give it a European feel? Let us all embrace the vuvuzela and whatever else a South African World Cup throws at us. The fact that some in Europe find it irritating is no reason to get rid of it.
The fifa boss also suggested that it was like telling brazil to lose the samba dance, the sombrero clad Mexicans should also be thrown away from soccer stadiums. Love or leave it the noisiest world cup is here and come on mama Africa you can do it. We love you. Let me blow one more time on my yellow pimped up vuvuzela!!
Your text goes hereYour text goes hereYour text goes here
With cases of fans chanting racist slogans and taunts in soccer matches on the rise I would like us to examine the position of the African player in the Euro leagues vis a vis racial discrimination.
In Spain former Barcelona striker Samuel Etoo walked off the pitch after racist taunts became unbearable during the game against real Zaragoza. This club has the most notorious fans infamous for their attacks on the black players in La Liga. Eto’o said afterwards that the decision was because he could not hold any more, “This is a struggle beyond the football field," he said at a press conference a few days later. "I made my decision because fans attacked me for my color."
Something had to be done and, as the Eto'o incident showed, particularly in Spain. Although players of African descent are routinely harassed during soccer matches, it took the three-time African Player of the Year's near departure from the field to jolt the country — or at least its media — into recognizing how entrenched racism has become among fans. Many are now asking why Spain — a country that, after the terrorist bombings in Madrid of March 11, 2004, prided itself on its tolerance toward outsiders — can't seem to curb the ugly scenes that blight its stadiums.
In 2004 Spanish national team coach Luis Aragonés created a stir when he allegedly made racist remarks about Thierry Henry, the black French striker who plays for London club Arsenal. Shortly after, a "friendly match" between Spain and England was marred by the all-too-familiar simian noises. Perhaps most troubling, the xenophobic chants and racist slogans are no longer confined to bands of Ultras. "What concerns me," says Javier Duran, president of the Observatory of Racism in Sport, the body created by the Spanish government to monitor xenophobic incidents, "is how generalized the phenomenon has become. At Zaragoza, it was the whole stadium chanting those ape noises, not just a handful of fans.
In Germany, soccer fans in Aachen, a town in Germany close to the border with Belgium and the Netherlands, almost experienced what could soon become a reality in stadiums. The referee threatened via loudspeakers to suspend the match between Alemannia Aachen and Borussia Mönchengladbach — after fans had called Brazilian player Kahe an “asylum seeker.”
The incident came only a week after racist slurs were made against Schalke striker Gerald Asamoah in Rostock. The German soccer federation DFB then sentenced the opposing team to a 20,000 euro fine — and one home game without spectators.
This precedent-setting case was seen as a message to soccer clubs that they are also responsible for their fans’ behavior. Asamoah, who in 2001 became the first African-born player on the German national team, is probably one of the most popular victims of racist insults — not just from the bleachers, but apparently also on the field.
In a more recent case, Dortmund goalie Roman Weidenfeller allegedly called Asamoah a “black pig” after a physically painful clash with the sturdy striker.
Weidenfeller and his club were quick to seek a plea bargain before the German Soccer Association (DFS) Disciplinary Committee. The goalie was sentenced to a minor fine and a three-game suspension for a “derogatory verbal lapse.”
In Russia, six years ago a typical scene took place at Dynamo stadium during the 1-1 draw between Dynamo and Saturn. As Saturn's midfielder Prince Amoako walked off the pitch, Dynamo fans from the main stand began to shout abuse at him. He had been called "monkey" and "black bastard" already during the match, but this time the Dynamo fans began to make monkey noises to laughter from fans around them.
Amoako, from Ghana, is one of more than 200 foreign players now making their living in the Russian Premier League, including 23 from eight different African countries and 22 from Brazil alone.Black players have become an easy target for fans.
In 2003, Spartak fans unveiled a banner saying "Blacks Go Home" at a league match against Rubin in Kazan after a bad run of form. Local police acted and tore the banner down. Spartak fans planned a protest against black players at a reserve match by throwing bananas onto the pitch.
More common than throwing bananas is the casual racism from a minority of the crowd as seen at Dynamo, with black players sometimes booed and racially abused. With smaller crowds and less of a fan culture, in Russia, in comparison to the singing and chanting of other European countries -- such as England in the 1980s -- racism in stadiums is not as evident.
Outside the stadium, though, soccer fans and skinheads -- who are often seen as the same thing, sometimes unfairly, sometimes not, -- have been party to numerous attacks on Africans and people from the Caucasus. Cameroonian Jerry Christian Tchuisse admitted last year that when he played for Spartak Moscow, he did not go outside for fear of attacks.
English soccer perhaps is the best example of tolerance and anti-racism campaign. Offensive chanting remains alive and raucously well on the football terraces, but little of it is overtly racist. Indeed, the anti-racist campaign in English football has been one of the successes of the game, with the situation transformed from the days when John Barnes had to dodge bananas.
This raises the issue of whether the FA Task Force, well intentioned though it undoubtedly is, has come 20 years too late.Pockets of bigotry remain and there is no place for complacency. But racist abuse is rarely of the scale or persistence that has triggered points deductions on the Continent — the penalty being recommended for England.
The trend is for particularly hateful songs targeted at individuals, rather than at creeds or colours, which is what Sol Campbell was subjected to by Tottenham Hotspur supporters with a ditty that included references to lynching and HIV.
We would therefore ask you soccer lovers to unite and KICK OUT racism in the game and we welcome any suggestions on the way forward for this. I rest my case.
Your text goes here
Mainz's Burkina Faso striker Aristide Bance and Eintracht Frankfurt rival Maik Franz are being investigated by the German Football Federation (DFB).
The two clashed during Saturday's Bundesliga game as Bance held up his middle finger in the direction of Franz after the final whistle.
Franz is being probed for alleged racist insults aimed at Bance during the game, which Frankfurt won 2-0.
Franz, who scored the opening goal, has denied the accusations.
"It's really despicable for him to say that," he said.
"It really shows his personality. Bance has made a mistake and he doesn't want to admit it. I don't have anything to be ashamed of, he has invented everything."
The atmosphere between the pair was tense throughout the match.
At the final whistle, Franz pushed Bance into the advertising hoarding at the side of the pitch where he was bombarded with beer-filled plastic cups by local fans.
The two men are due to appear before a DFB disciplinary commission, while Bance has already been fined by his club.
A heavy dose of reality crashed down upon African hopes of a maiden Fifa World Cup title after Friday's draw pitched the continent's most-fancied teams in challenging groups.
In the build-up to the Cape Town draw, where locals flooded the city centre for the most colourful of street parties, most of the talk centred upon Ghana and Ivory Coast spearheading Africa's unlikely quest
[ Click here to read more ]
Africa is blessed with 53 countries but we only have six representations at the premier soccer fest, the World Cup. Why is this so?
The FIFA technocrats claim that the quality of African opposition is not comparable to that of Europe or still to that of the Americas. Is this true? They also say that we do not have quality infrastructure, players and administrative capability to develop the game in the continent.
[ Click here to read more ]
|
|
Recent Comments
I've not commented on anything yet :(
|
Comments (1)
Add Comments
Read More