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Stay away from Rio, says Rivaldo

May 10, 2016 11:14 IST

Rio Olympics

IMAGE: General view of the Future Arena at the Olympic Parkhe Olympic torch at the Aquatic Complex Claudio Coutinho during the Olympic Flame torch relay. Photograph: Getty Images.

Former Brazil football great Rivaldo is telling tourists to stay away from the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro for their own safety.

The ex-Barcelona striker, capped 74 times for his country posted the warning on his Instagram account and alluded to the case of a 17-year-old woman killed on Saturday in a shootout.

"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 in just under three months.

Ana Beatriz Pereira Frade was shot on Saturday morning by an armed gang on a main road connecting the city’s international airport with most of the Olympic venues.

Local reports said she was killed during a botched robbery after eight men surrounded the car she was travelling in with her family.

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