A Ukrainian sports association on Monday suggested fans attending the Euro 2012 football tournament use a local noise-maker less irritating than the controversial South African vuvuzela horn, the Unian news agency reported.
A ceramic whistle used by prehistoric Ukrainian tribes called a “zozulitsa” or “okarina” is made of natural materials and produces a quiet and pleasing sound, said Oleksander Kucheriavsky, spokesman for the Ukrainian Association of Sports Marketing.
“The ‘zozulitsa’ has a low pleasant tone and does not irritate like African vuvuzelas,” Kucheriavsky said.
Ukraine’s Euro 2012 organising committee currently is studying two models of ‘zozulitsa’ that might be offered fans at Euro 2012 — one a pocket-sized whistle five to seven centimetres long suitable for carrying into stadiums and the other a 22-centimetre instrument to be sold as a souvenir, he said.
Stefan Reshko, a member of the Federation of Football of Ukraine, expressed scepticism of the ‘zozulitsa’ idea saying, “I doubt the UEFA will allow people to bring ceramic whistles into stadiums. That’s a hard object, the fragments can be sharp.” Ukraine along with Poland is a co-host of Euro 2012.
