Despite its popularity with fans across the world, the vuvuzela – the unofficial symbol of the just concluded 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa - is an unwanted piece of property in the English Football, which kicks off in August. At the last count, nine Premiership clubs - Arsenal, Birmingham, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, West Ham United, Sunderland, West Brom and Tottenham Hotspurs; and four Championship clubs - Cardiff City, Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton, have already stated their disapproval of the brightly coloured plastic horn which can reportedly generate a drone of up to 144 decibels inside stadiums, much louder than fireworks, a referee’s whistle or a plane taking off. “We are concerned that the presence of the instruments within the stadium pose unnecessary risks and could impact on the ability of all supporters to hear any emergency safety announcements," read the statement on the Tottenham’s official website.

During South Africa 2010, ear plugs called Vuvu-stops, were popular among some fans, who felt the vuvuzela sound was annoying. “Imagine the sound of a swarm of bees seeking out honeycomb, only much, much louder,” noted one disgruntled fan. Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Spain’s Xabi Alonso were some of the players who complained that the sound disturbed players’ concentration on the pitch. “I think they should be banned. They make it very difficult for the players to communicate. They are a distraction and do nothing for the atmosphere,” Alonso had said. Not every fan present at during the World Cup would agree with him as the noise from the vuvuzela was a popular soundtrack across the ten stadia.

And for mobile Vuvuzela traders like Israel Vera in Johannesburg, he couldn’t be bothered. Just before the World Cup final, Vera told the magazine that he had already sold over three hundred vuvuzelas. His stock was the brightly coloured one wrapped with designs of the South African flag. Depending on the buyer, Vera’s sold his product for between forty and seventy rands (N1,000 or N1,400). Some designer models went for as much as two hundred and fifty rands (Five thousand naira). At another store in Johannesburg, one foreign visitor bought fourteen vuvuzelas at once, thereby exhausting the last stock. Before the England’s exit in the second round, football fans in England reportedly bought vuvuzelas at a rate of one every two seconds. Popular supermarket chain, Sainsbury, was said to have sold 22,000 red vuvuzelas in 12 hours before one of England's game. The supermarket chain also ordered 25,000 extra horns ahead of England’s game against Algeria.

Now that some Premiership Clubs are reluctant to welcome the South African import, the dilemma for most English fans who returned home with vivuzelas is what to do with it now that the World Cup is over. For brisk vuvuzela businessmen like Vera, it was just ayoba (fine) doing business with the English. But for some Premiership clubs, they wouldn’t need the vuvuzela soundtrack highlighting the English game. The 2010/11 Premiership kicks off August 14.