Freddie Marquet

And that was by design.

FIFA and South Africa's organising committee marketed the tournament as Africa's World Cup.

The slogan was Celebrate Africa's Humanity.

Even the official song of the tournament, which you'll surely remember, proclaims this time is for Africa.

And because the Viva Zala became such a huge focal point of the event, Peter Oleji says the instrument got wrapped up in all the iconography of the tournament too.

The Disneyfication of the tournament made the Vivizella feel cheap, like the rest of the marketing around it.

And with that cheapness came a certain scepticism about its authenticity.

One story the press picked up connected the Vivizella to the horn of the kudu, a species of antelope.

Kudu!

Historically, animal horns have been used in South African culture, but the theory linking the kudu horn to the vuvuzela was likely inspired by one supporter of the team Mamelody Sundowns, who is known to bring the horn to football games.

Here's researcher Dwayne Jethro again.

Another claim came from the Nazareth Baptist Church, also known as the Shembe, who have a horn of their own.

The Shembe first accused Saddam Markey of appropriating the Isambomu.

They said he visited the church in the 90s and fashioned his own version in plastic when he wasn't allowed to bring the metal horn into stadiums.

Saddam denies these accusations.

The church threatened the legal action initially against FIFA and World Cup organizers before going after Neil van Skulkvik and his company.

According to media reports at the time, the two parties eventually came to a settlement.

Despite the lack of a straightforward origin story, the vivizella is still considered cultural heritage, at least in the eyes of some institutions.

The United Kingdom's National Football Museum and the British Museum both have vivizellas in their collections.

I mean, the British Museum is no stranger to stealing credit for cultural artefacts.