Former Brazilian soccer star: Don’t come to the Rio Olympics

With the Olympics set to begin in less than three months in Rio de Janeiro, one of Brazil’s most successful soccer players has a surprisingly ominous message for international visitors: Stay away.

Brazil is getting “more ugly,” said Rivaldo, who was on the country’s 2002 World Cup-winning squad, forming part of a lethal attacking trio with Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.

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Rivaldo warned people on social media about the violence plaguing the city, citing the killing of a 17-year-old girl over the weekend.

The message is likely to frustrate the country’s leaders, who have been trying to dispel the notion that Brazil is not ready for the games and Rio is not safe for tourists.

“We are waiting for everyone to come so we can showcase our city,” Rio de Janeiro Municipal Tourism Secretary Antonio Pedro Viegas said. “People already know our problems, but they will be surprised by Rio’s beauty and the warmth of its people.”

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But violence is just one problem that Brazil is facing ahead of the games.

The coastal city of Recife is considered ground zero for the deadly Zika virus. A host of countries have issued travel warnings for areas affected by the virus, which is carried by mosquitoes. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable because the virus can cause birth defects.

Brazilian leaders are also dealing with an economic downturn and corruption scandal that may have ensnared President Dilma Rousseff and her predecessor. She was in the process of being impeached, but those proceedings took an unusual twist Tuesday.

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Then there’s concerns about the physical spaces.

It’s not clear if all the venues and infrastructure will be ready. And water quality is also a concern for those who will compete in Rio’s Guanabara Bay, which has been polluted by sewage.

A pest control worker fumigates a school corridor on the eve of the annual national Primary School Evaluation Test in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, September 4. Malaysia reported its first locally transmitted Zika case on September 3.

A banner about Zika virus is seen as ferry passengers arriving from Singapore get in line at the immigration check on September 4, in Batam, Indonesia.

A banner is flown over the South Pointe Park area, Tuesday, September 6, in Miami Beach, Florida.

A pest control worker fumigates drains at a local housing estate where the latest case of Zika infections were reported on Thursday, September 1, in Singapore.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Florida Surgeon General Dr. Celeste Philip address the media gathered at the Miami-Dade County Department of Health as they announce five cases of Zika in a 1.5 mile area of Miami Beach on Friday, August 19, in Miami, Florida.

Brazil's interim President Michel Temer, center right, meets with officials during Temer's first visit to the Olympic Park on Thursday, June 14, in Rio de Janeiro. The Rio 2016 Olympic Games commence August 5 amid a political and economic crisis in the country along with the Zika virus outbreak.

Rio 2016 Chief Medical Officer Joao Grangeiro, Municipal Secretary of Health Daniel Soranz and Sub-secretary of the State for Health and Surveillence Alexandre Chieppe field questions from the media during an International Media Briefing to address the Zika virus on Tuesday, June 7, in Rio de Janeiro.

A health worker fumigates an area in Gama, Brazil, to combat the Aedes aegypti mosquito on Wednesday, February 17. The mosquito carries the Zika virus, which has suspected links to birth defects in newborn children. The World Health Organization expects the Zika outbreak to spread to almost every country in the Americas.

A man places a mosquito net over a bed at a home for the elderly in Masaya, Nicaragua, on Thursday, February 11.

An Aedes aegypti mosquito floats in stagnant water inside a tire at a used tire store in Villavicencio, Colombia, on Thursday, February 4.

A health worker fumigates an area in Caracas, Venezuela, on Tuesday, February 2.

A lab worker exposes his arm to Aedes aegypti mosquitoes during testing at the Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City, Guatemala, on Monday, February 1.

Tainara Lourenco sits inside her home in Recife, Brazil, on Friday, January 29. Lourenco, five months pregnant, lives at the epicenter of Brazil's Zika outbreak. The Zika virus has been linked to microcephaly, a neurological disorder that results in newborns with small heads and abnormal brain development.

Dr. Angela Rocha shows brain scans of a baby born with microcephaly at the Oswaldo Cruz Hospital in Recife on Thursday, January 28.

Alice Vitoria Gomes Bezerra, a 3-month-old baby with microcephaly, is placed in her crib by her father Wednesday, January 27, in Recife.

A health ministry employee fumigates a home in Soyapango, El Salvador, on January 27.

A lab technician at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation Institute stores Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to be used in research in Recife on January 27.

A patient suffering from Guillain-Barre syndrome recovers at a hospital in San Salvador, El Salvador, on January 27. Researchers are looking into a possible link between Zika and Guillain-Barre, a rare disorder that causes the body's immune system to attack its nerves.

Luiz Felipe lives in Recife and is one of more than 4,000 babies in Brazil born with microcephaly since October. The drought-stricken impoverished state of Pernambuco has been the hardest-hit, registering 33% of recent cases.

A health worker sprays insecticide under the bleachers of Rio de Janeiro's Sambadrome on Tuesday, January 26.

A Brazilian soldier inspects a home in Recife on Monday, January 25, while canvassing the neighborhood and attempting to eradicate the larvae of mosquitoes linked to the virus.

David Henrique Ferreira, a 5-month-old who has microcephaly, is watched by his brother in Recife on January 25.

The larvae of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are photographed in a lab in Cali, Colombia, on January 25. Scientists are studying the mosquitoes to control their reproduction and resistance to insecticides.

Angelica Prato, a pregnant woman infected by the Zika virus, receives medical attention at a hospital in Cucuta, Colombia, on January 25.

A woman walks through fumes as health ministry employees fumigate an area in Soyapango on Thursday, January 21.

Brazilian soldiers apply insect repellent as they prepare for a cleanup operation in Sao Paulo on Wednesday, January 20.

A researcher at the University of Sao Paulo holds a container with female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes on Monday, January 18.

A graveyard in Lima, Peru, is fumigated on Friday, January 15.

Aedes aegypti mosquitos are seen at the University of Sao Paulo on January 8. Researchers from the Pasteur Institute in Dakar, Senegal, came to Brazil to train local researchers to combat the Zika virus epidemic.

Zika virus outbreak

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Journalist Ollie Williams and CNN’s Shasta Darlington and Flora Charner contributed to this report