Historic Rio Bookstore Told to Take Down “Olympics” Sign

A bookstore in Rio de Janeiro’s historic center was told to take down a sign that had the word “Olympics” in it, local media reported on Sunday.

Rodrigo Ferrari, the co-owner of Livraria Folha Seca, said he received an email from the organizing committee of the 2016 Summer Olympics that said he was “committing an infraction” for displaying a banner that read “Adhemar Ferreira Silva – 2016, the Olympics year of Folha Seca” across the store’s window. Ferreira Silva was a two-time Olympic gold medalist from São Paulo who died in 2001.

“I was worried, so I took it down, despite finding it absurd,” Ferrari told ESPN’s Brazil affiliate.