Other Sport
Vuvuzelas heading for India
2010-09-03 09:29
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New Delhi - Loved and loathed in equal measure, the drone of the vuvuzela will resonate in India for the first time at the Commonwealth Games in October.
The plastic horn, which went on to become Soccer's World Cup soundtrack in South Africa this year, will be part of Delhi's noisy celebration for the October 3-14 multi-sports gathering, organisers said on Thursday.
Even though the cacophony received a resounding thumbs-down in Europe, the chairperson of the event's official merchandising partner, Premier Brands, said the high decibel level should not be a problem in India.
"In India we enjoy sports with lot of noise. We are not like the Europeans," Suresh Kumar said on Friday.
"The organising committee only needs to ensure that the fans are allowed to enter the stadiums with the vuvuzelas and it is not perceived as a security issue."
Kumar refused to share the sales target and where he was sourcing the horns from.
"With just a month to go for the Games to start, we have not set ourselves any target but I can assure you that supply would not be an issue."
Unlike the ones sold in South Africa, the vuvuzelas would be decorated in Indian colours and priced at a little less than $4.
Apart from the company website, vuvuzelas and other official merchandise products could be obtained from mobile vans which will visit schools in the morning and shopping malls and residential areas in the afternoon.
Vuvuzelas symbolised South Africa's passion around the soccer World Cup but were soon consigned to the scrapheap once the final whistle had sounded.
The horns were banned from the Wimbledon tennis grand slam and also from UEFA competitions such as the Champions League, Europa League and Euro 2012 qualifiers.
The vuvuzelas, however, are expected to be a hit in a country where loud celebrations are part of life and where cricket crowds are often so noisy that umpires struggle to detect edges.
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