Bagpipes: instruments to be allowed at Euro 2024 football matches after Uefa approval

Cast your mind back to the 2010 South African World Cup, where the prevalence of the vuvuzela turned every stadium into a dissonant beehive.

The plastic trumpets usurped all atmospheres, drowning out crowd chants and referee whistles and leading viewers around the world to question whether they were watching a football match or a bizarre insect symphony in the middle of a giant hornet's nest.

Well, brace yourself for the upcoming Euro 2024 tournament, where bagpipes are getting the green light to join the football fiesta, after Uefa clarified they will be allowed inside stadiums for Scotland fans.

Concerns arose that the Tartan Army might lose their traditional musical accompaniment this summer, due to Uefa guidelines prohibiting "mechanical sound-emitting devices" at fixtures.

But, provided the instruments are registered with the Scottish Football Association (SFA), fans will be able to accompany goal celebration with the dulcet tones of bagpipes.

Why have bagpipes been allowed?

Steve Clarke's team are scheduled to begin their tournament against hosts Germany on 14 June.

The match will take place at the Allianz Arena in Munich, where a "prohibited items" list for the stadium warns fans against bringing "mechanical or electronic noisemakers, such as megaphones and air horns."

The list also explicitly disallows "other sound-emitting and speech-amplification devices," citing "pea whistles and vuvuzelas" as examples.

Despite these restrictions, a recent gathering of the Euro 2024 fan forum, which brought together representatives from the 21 teams qualified for the tournament finals, has approved the inclusion of bagpipes.

A spokesperson for Uefa confirmed: "Fans are welcome to bring instruments to the stadium, but they will have to register them with their respective national associations, who will be responsible for centralising their fans’ activities inside the stadium."

The procedure for registering fans' instruments would be communicated to the SFA "in due course."

Iain Emerson, editor of the Famous Tartan Army magazine, said that the presence of bagpipes could significantly "boost the team," adding he was confident that fans would be able to generate a lively "party atmosphere" when the tournament commences.

Speaking on BBC's Good Morning Scotland, he said: "I think the very thought of banning our national instrument that identifies Scotland so much throughout the world would just take so much away from the occasion.

“I was at the opening game of the World Cup in 1998 against Brazil. Brazil had their samba drums and we had the bagpipes and it was one massive party and it was fantastic."

Following the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Uefa implemented restrictions on certain devices after vuvuzelas were considered excessively loud, posing a risk of "overwhelming supporter emotions and diminishing the overall experience of the game."