Brazil is struggling to get ready for the 2016 Summer Olympics

Brazil has run into quite a few problems getting ready for the 2014 World Cup in June, and the country’s preparations for the 2016 Summer Olympic games have been no less troubled. The latest issue to raise concerns has nothing to do with the usual construction problems, though. Instead, it’s the state of Brazil’s water, which has been tabbed as “the foulest place” Austrian sailor Nico Delle Karth has trained.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Delle Karth told the New York Times, referring to Rio de Janeiro’s Guanabara Bay, the location of the Olympic wind surfing event.

Delle Karth is not alone in his opinion, either. Olympic athletes training there say that Guanabara Bay is often referred to as the “garbage dump of Rio de Janerio.” Dog carcasses and sewage discolor the water.

Brazil has attempted to clean up its waters for decades, but has run into problems related to mismanagement and alleged corruption, which have also delayed construction of Olympic facilities. The run-up to the 2016 games has been so troubled, in so many ways, that Olympic officials have reportedly met in secret to suggest the games be moved to London, according to a report in The Independent.

The revelation comes as an International Olympic Committee vice president last month branded Brazil’s planning “the worst I have experienced.”

John Coates, who has closely monitored progress from Rio, told a press conference in Sydney that the city is “in many, many ways” further behind Athens was two years before the 2004 games - the current benchmark for last minute completions.

It’s worth noting that this sort of concern and controversy is not unique to Brazil or the 2016 games. Most recently, there were a myriad of issues with facilities and accommodations at the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014, but for the most part everything worked out once the events started. As it faces yet another setback, Brazil will have to hope that the 2016 games can make it that far.