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The plastic horns that have annoyed soccer fans, players and broadcasters during the World Cup have been banned from the Grand Slam tournament, which starts on Monday at the fabled All England Club.

The tennis club's top executive, Ian Ritchie, issued a statement Thursday saying spectators would not be allowed to bring in any noise-making devices.

"Out of courtesy to the players and their fellow spectators, we make a point of asking spectators not to bring items which could either cause a distraction or interfere with the enjoyment of the occastion," the statement said.

"Rattles, klaxons and vuvuzelas all fall into that category ... Our messsage is do not bring them in the first place," Ritchie declared.

In South Africa, several players have said that the vuvuzela has made communication difficult on the pitch. France's Patrice Evra even blamed the horns' constant noise for his team's poor performance.

FIFA, organizers of the World Cup, considered banning the traditional horn, but ultimately decided not to, saying it would be wrong to interfere with the country's culture.

Several TV stations airing the World Cup have vowed to filter out the droning noise from their broadcasts.

Though they've stamped out the noise issue, that won't eliminate the distraction that the World Cup brings to Wimbledon. Many of the players are fans of their national teams. They'll probably be fielding questions about soccer for the entirety of the two-week tennis tournament.

To put the focus on the grass courts, no World Cup games will be shown on video screens or scoreboards during Wimbledon.

"We fully appreciate that a number of our visitors will be interested in the football World Cup," Ritchie stated. "Equally, however, the tennis is our first priority."

Wimbledon will be avoiding a huge blow to viewership for the men's final. In the past, the tennis match was on the same day as the World Cup final. To the All England Club's relief, this year the World Cup ends on July 11, one week later than Wimbledon.

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People brought noise makers into Tennis? The only thing I hear grunting back and forth from the players and clapping (and a few people say "Whoaaa") when somone gets points.

Really? They should also ban the women from shrieking as they play every point! The men (One of the worst offenders in his day was Gustavo Kuerten) sound like they about to have a crap on the court!

Really? They should also ban the women from shrieking as they play every point! The men (One of the worst offenders in his day was Gustavo Kuerten) sound like they about to have a crap on the court!

Maria Sharapova and her "moan" :p

Those horns were around years before South Africa had a world cup.

When England played Pakistan a few years ago, all you could hear was those bloody horns going off during the one day game.

They are irritating, just like bands constantly play the great escape, which should be banned also.

As far as Wimbledon is concerned ban Cliff Richard also.

I only like the French Open, that is a proper tournament followed by Wimbledon.

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