Reuters – The Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova football-specific stadium in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil with a maximum capacity of 55,000 people. The stadium will be one of the venues for the football competition of the 2016 Summer Olympics.
The Anglican Primate of Brazil has criticised “serious mismanagement” of the construction of the Olympic Village in Rio de Janeiro which he said has caused “additional social concerns” in a country already rife with protests and political crisis.
In comments quoted by Anglican News, Brazil’s Anglican primate Archbishop Francisco de Assis da Silva said the organisers had “made the games a means of exploitation, exclusion and wealth accumulation at the expense of the rights of ordinary people of the city of Rio de Janeiro”.
The archbishop was careful to stress that the 2016 Olympic Games “bring together the peoples of the world through healthy competition in several individual and team sports” and provide the opportunity to “encounter, learn, and share the world’s diversity”.
But, in a reference to the controversial impeachment of Brazil’s former president which included implicit support for her, he continued: “We know that these are not the best of days for Brazil. The political crisis caused by the coup manoeuvrings against the President of the Republic [Dilma Rousseff] has divided the country and demonstrations have been frequent.”
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The archbishop appealed for Anglicans around the world to pray for the country. “I ask the Brazilian Anglicans and Anglicans around the world to pray for peace to prevail; and for respect and sportsmanship in this special party of sports,” he said.
He added that, in spite of the political tensions, Brazil should show “respect for the athletes, visitors and all the people” involved with the Olympics.
Archbishop da Silva said that people should be able to live “the festival of sport” while being mature enough to “carry out political criticism” of the organisers.
Noting that this is the first time an event of this size has taken place in Brazil, the Archbishop said that “the whole world will be watching our country during the games”.
Brazil is enduring its worst recession in decades as well as a political crisis.
