This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Brazilian World Cup winner Rivaldo is telling tourists to stay away from the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro because of the danger of endemic violence.

Rivaldo posted the warning on his Instagram account and alluded to the case of a 17-year-old woman killed on Saturday in a shootout.

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“Things are getting uglier here every day,” Rivaldo 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.”

The Olympics open in just under three months.

In a recent statement, Amnesty International said at least 11 people were killed in police shootings in Rio’s impoverished favelas in April. It said at least 307 people were killed by police last year, accounting for 20% of the homicides in the city.

Violence is one in a long line of problems facing South America’s first Olympics. Although venues are largely ready, the Zika virus, water pollution, and lukewarm tickets sales are worrying organizers. In addition, Brazil is in its deepest recession in decades and the presidency of Dilma Rousseff is in turmoil.

However, there were fears that Brazil would hit problems hosting the World Cup in 2014 but the tournament took place without any major disruption or negative incidents involving visiting fans.