THE World Cup organising committee yesterday denied reports by the British media that they are planning on banning vuvuzelas from all games throughout the month-long tournament.

THE World Cup organising committee yesterday denied reports by the British media that they are planning on banning vuvuzelas from all games throughout the month-long tournament.

"Vuvuzelas are a cultural phenomenon for our country and for football," spokesman Rich Mkhondo said.

"Our CEO (Danny Jordaan) never said they would be banned."

Rumours that the plastic trumpets, symbolic of African football, would be banned from World Cup games stem from comments made by Jordaan during an interview with a BBC radio station.

Jordaan was asked by a BBC reporter whether he would consider banning the vuvuzela, due to complaints by players and broadcasters that they were too noisy, Mkhondo said.

A story posted on the BBC's website bbc.co.uk yesterday read: "South Africa's World Cup organising chief Danny Jordaan may ban vuvuzelas from inside stadiums after complaints from broadcasters and supporters. The constant sound of the high-pitched horn-like instrument has so far drowned out much of the atmosphere-generating singing usually associated with games," it continued.

"And Jordaan, when asked if he would get rid of them, told BBC Sport: 'If there are grounds to do so, yes'." According to Mkhondo, Jordaan never said they would be banned due to noise.

"To clarify, he (Jordaan) said, 'if vuvuzelas were to be used to attack and injure other people or thrown into the field to disrupt matches, we would look at preventing people from bringing them into the stadium'. All in all vuvuzelas are here to stay." - Sapa