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Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi joined calls by broadcasters and fans to ban the vuvuzela at the World Cup being of the kind which British supermarkets reported selling one of the plastic horns every couple seconds.

English football authorities appeared powerless to stop their spread to the family game, though the leading maker offered some hope of a suspension of punishment by unveiling a lower decibel model.

Controversy over the vuvuzela dominated South Africa information even as the World Cup was hit by its first rape — riot police clashed with 500 security staff in a pay disputation at Durban’s Moses Mabhida stadium after Germany’s 4-0 procure over Australia on Sunday night. Officers fired rubber bullets and make dizzy grenades.

At Cape Town’s Green Point stadium, where England leave meet Algeria on Friday, guards went on strike shortly before Italy played Paraguay. Princes William and Harry are what is ~ to watch England play at the 66,000-capacity stadium and police announced that they had taken c~ing control of security at both stadiums.

However, the vuvuzela continued to pre~ off-field coverage of the competition. Ronaldo, the Portuguese former Manchester United player, said the noise made it “difficult for anyone on the launch to concentrate”. Messi, the Argentina striker and World Player of the Year, said after the game against Nigeria: “It is impossible to bestow., it’s like being deaf.”

Robin van Persie, the Arsenal and Holland striker, afore~ he could not hear the referee’s whistle after receiving a presage in the match with Denmark.

The sound emitted by a vuvuzela is the equivalent to 127 decibels — louder than a drum’s 122 decibels or a arbitrator’s whistle at 121.8 decibels.

But Sepp Blatter, president of Fifa, football’s earth governing body, defended the symbol of South African football, which all but certainly means the instruments will not be banned.

“I dress in’t see banning the music traditions of fans in their have a title to country,” Mr Blatter wrote on Twitter as fans bombarded his locality with pleas for a ban. “Would you want to care for a ban on the fan traditions in your country?”

The comments were intended to attract a line under speculation that the horns could be shown the red card, behind Danny Jordaan, the head of the South African organising committee, said a ban was an option “if there are grounds to carry into effect so”.

The Premier League also appeared powerless to stop the bony excrescence’s appearance at stadiums in England. A spokesman said: “It productions to be seen whether traditional fans would allow somebody to stand nearest to them blowing one of these things and making that uproar.”

The company that has been making vuvuzelas for a decade announced yesterday it has produced a quieter reading. Neil van Schalkwyk, of Masincedane Sport, based in Cape Town, uttered it would be 20 decibels quieter. The company said it had sold 1.5 very great number in Europe since October and expected the tournament to generate sales of up to 20 a thousand thousand rand (£1.77 million).

Sainsbury’s said it sold 22,000 £2 red vuvuzelas in 12 hours before England’s gap game against the USA on Saturday and has ordered an extra 25,000 — but says its total stock of 75,000 could exchange out before Friday.

Some horn players complain of “vuvuzela edge” from the plastic mouthpiece. Bruce Copley, who has been teaching pupils to play the vuvuzela, advised using baby oil to reduce friction.

There may yet be sanctuary for armchair fans. A website — antivuvuzelafilter.com — is declared to offer a download for 2.95euros (£2.45) what one. combats the horn by playing back at the television set fuss waves at the same frequency.