Brazil great
Rivaldo has urged tourists not to travel to Rio de Janeiro for the Olympic
Games because of the risk of violence.
The former
FIFA World Player of the Year posted a warning on Instagram and alluded to the
death of a 17-year-old woman, who is reported to have been killed in a
shoot-out in the city at the weekend.
"Things
are getting uglier here every day," the ex-Barcelona star wrote. "I
advise everyone with plans to visit Brazil for the Olympics in Rio to stay
home.
"You'll
be putting your life at risk here. This is without even speaking about the
state of public hospitals and all the Brazilian political mess. Only God can
change the situation in our Brazil."
Preparations
for the Olympics, which get under way in less than three months, have been
hampered by a number of concerns raised over the suitability of the host city.
Amnesty
International claimed in a statement that 11 people were killed in police
confrontations in Rio's impoverished favelas just last month. A total of 307
were killed by police last year, the group said.
Concerns
over water pollution and the spread of the Zika virus have prompted further
worries for tournament organisers, with the nation's economic recession and the
turbulence of Dilma Rousseff's presidency adding to those anxieties.
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