The 2016 Summer Olympics is scheduled to begin next month in Rio; however, Brazil on its own has been raising eyebrows on a few crises at the moment. Last month, a group of 150 doctors, scientists and bioethics penned a letter to the World Health Organization urging that the Games be postponed or relocated due to the outbreak of the mosquito-borne virus, Zika. Other than the Zika virus, Brazil has been dealing with its own financial crisis, political and criminal embezzlement. In other words, Brazil is rising in violence and falling economically. Many athletes, delegations and journalists are struggling with the decision of whether to participate in the Rio 2016 Games. This leaves the question open to the Olympic committee, is Rio 2016 to be postponed or moved?
The most frustrating crisis at the moment, for the Summer Olympics, is the plague of the Zika Virus affecting Brazil. Just last year it was reported more than 1.3 million people were infected with Zika in Brazil. It's a scary feeling to host an international event with a virus, which scientist still don't have control over. It's a virus that hasn't found a proper vaccination or treatment, in other words, it's considered highly fatal.
Recently, a group of Brazilian scientists has just discovered a drug-resistant super-bacteria growing off some of Rio de Janeiro’s beaches, where games are being schedule to play next month. The water where athletes will be competing remains heavily polluted, putting the competitors at risk of serious illness and almost assuring that the highly antibiotic-resistant bacteria will be more quickly transmitted throughout the world. Currently, several athletes such as Stephen Curry and Rory Mcllroy are withdrawing from the games due to the fear of getting infected.
The purpose of the Olympic games is to celebrate great athletes around the world and to overcome whatever else is happening in the world. In this case, the people of Rio are passionate about sports, the location physically is beautiful and it creates great local business opportunities for Brazil. Unfortunately, Brazil's current problems aren't cooperating well, making it be unfit and dangerous to be a perfect host for the Olympics. What the Olympic committee should do is rethink when to schedule the games, in order to prevent any health risks or because of Brazil's financial crisis has brought several difficulties in essential public services and it could cause the total collapse of public security for visitors. They should rethink whether to postpone the games or have them moved somewhere with various stadiums, such as the Unites States. At the moment, the Olympic committee hasn't commented on postponing or relocating the games next month.
