Basketball ban vuvuzelas

Frankfurt - Vuvuzelas will be banned from the upcoming basketball world championship in Turkey because of "health concerns."

The international basketball federation is urging fans not to bring the noisy instruments to games and warns that security staff will confiscate them.

Supporters also face expulsion from the tournament's five venues if they flout the ban.

FIBA says it is the first international sport federation to officially ban the vuvuzela from all of its events. The ban will also include pressure horns that can produce similar decibel levels and harm people's health.

FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann says vuvuzelas are "simply not appropriate in a confined space such as a basketball arena."