The Rio Olympics Are Off To A Disastrous Start

Five weeks before the 2016 Olympics are to be held in Rio de Janeiro, the news is awash with embarrassing and in some cases downright gruesome headlines that call into question the safety or even feasibility of holding the games in Rio.

Last week, a human foot washed up on Copacabana beach, just yards from where volleyball players will compete in the games. A beach-goer found the foot Wednesday, and police believe it belonged to a woman or young adult, though the circumstances under which it became separated from its owner are still under investigation.

The foot was accompanied by another as yet unidentified body part.

'Welcome To Hell'

The case of the floating foot may remain unsolved for some time however, since Rio’s police are unpaid and have been engaging in protests. One banner held up at the airport recently said, “Welcome to hell...whoever comes to Rio de Janeiro will not be safe.” In fact, thousands of Rio civil servants, from doctors to firefighters, are threatening to strike over wages in arrears. Police have had to beg for supplies as basic as toilet paper from civilians in the community. The acting governor of Rio has warned that police cars will soon run out of gas.

There is also a lack of functioning hospitals.

Break Out In Brazil

It’s a bad time for Rio’s hospitals to be out of service. Zika is the mosquito-borne virus that has a seemingly ever-growing list of potential defects that it's being linked to in babies born to infected mothers and has broken out on a country-wide level. One Olympian has actually frozen his sperm.

Miscellaneous Mayhem
Several other embarrassing events of late include:

• The Olympic torch nearly put out by a bucket of water thrown by a 27 year old on a dare from his friends.
• A jaguar called Juma that was being exhibited with the Olympic torch broke free from her handlers and was shot.
• Untreated sewage in the water has been blamed for outbreaks of disease in the athletes.
• The government is broke and may not be capable of paying its share of the costs for holding the games.

Companies Affected

Many companies stood to benefit from the games, and some will remain unaffected even if all the headlines scare people away (as long as all the athletes show up, which isn’t certain). Two companies that may be pretty disappointed if the multitude of problems facing Rio cause low attendance are Visa Inc V and Planet Payment, Inc PLPM.

Visa is the exclusive payment provider of the Olympic games and expected 1.2 million travelers to Brazil for the games, according to a press release from April. Planet Payment announced in March it partnered with Visa to deliver payment processing solutions in international markets, most notably in Brazil for the games.