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A beach volleyball player and convicted child molester from the Netherlands is causing outrage over his controversial participation in the Dutch Olympic team. Petitions have been filed and calls have been made for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to investigate why he is allowed to compete.
Steven van de Velde, 29, will compete with his partner Matthew Immers at the 2024 Paris Olympics, one of two Dutch men’s teams to qualify for the Olympic beach volleyball event. But unlike most Olympic athletes, Van de Velde has a dark criminal past.
The case of Steven van de Velde explained
Van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 after admitting to raping a 12-year-old British girl when he was 19. He had met the girl on social media and they had chatted online for months. He told a British court that he knew her age when he flew from Amsterdam to London in 2014 to meet the minor.
He raped the girl multiple times at her home while her mother was away. Van de Velde was caught after he advised the girl to take a morning-after pill. The staff at the family planning clinic became concerned about the girl’s young age and alerted her family and the police, the Athletics reports.
Van de Velde pleaded guilty to three counts of rape. The court heard at his sentencing how his victim was so tormented by guilt after his arrest that she began to harm herself.
“The emotional damage that has been done to this child is enormous,” Judge Francis Sheridan said at the time. “As she grows older, she will have to realise that you are not the nice person she thought you were and hoped you would be.”
Van de Velde spent a year in prison in the UK before being extradited to the Netherlands and re-sentenced under Dutch law. He spent another month in a Dutch prison before being released in early 2017.
Although his lawyers complained during the trial that Van de Velde’s then flourishing sports career was over, the beach volleyball player returned to the Dutch competition almost immediately in the same year he was released from prison.
Steven van de Velde of the Netherlands in action with Dirk Boehle of the Netherlands during a match against Dries Koekelkoren and Tom van Walle of Belgium on day 4 of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Qinzhou Open on October 14, 2017 in Qinzhou, China.
Zhong Zhi/Getty Images
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The Dutch Volleyball Association has publicly defended its athlete since Van de Velde qualified for the Olympic Games.
“After his release, Van de Velde sought and received professional guidance. He has shown the people around him — privately and professionally — self-insight and reflection,” the federation said.
It was added that both the association and the Dutch Olympic Committee ‘rely on the opinions of experts who estimate the chance of recidivism as zero’.
The Dutch Olympic Committee said Van de Velde met the conditions to return after a conviction and resume his career in 2017 “after an intensive, professionally supervised process.”
“Van de Velde now meets all qualification requirements for the Olympic Games and is therefore part of the team,” the committee said.
In a statement on the website of the Dutch Volleyball Association, Van de Velde wrote that his crimes had been “the biggest mistake of my life.”
“I understand that this may attract international media attention in the run-up to the biggest sporting event in the world,” he wrote. “I cannot undo it, so I will have to bear the consequences.”
Van de Velde is not allowed to speak to the media during the Olympics and the Dutch team has chosen to move him to alternative accommodation in Paris, so that he will not be staying in the athletes’ village. The youngest Olympic athlete at the 2024 Games has just 11 years old.
The IOC has no role in selecting Olympic athletes or setting rules for who can compete. The international volleyball federation said it “recognizes that this is a very sensitive issue” but said team selection is the responsibility of the national Olympic committee “in compliance with the eligibility criteria.”
International reactions
At a press conference on Monday, Australian Olympic team chief Anna Meares said Australia would never have chosen a convicted rapist to represent the country at the Olympics.
“If an athlete or staff member had that belief, they should not be a member of our team,” she said. “We have strict rules for protection within our team.”
Meares pointed out that Team Australia has a number of young athletes under the age of 16 and 18 and this policy is intended to protect them.
Ciara Bergman, the CEO of Rape crisis England and Walessaid it was “irresponsible” to let someone like Van de Velde participate in the Olympic Games.
“If you can rape a child and still compete in the Olympics, despite all the athletes signing a statement promising to be role models, that is just shocking,” she wrote.
Bergman calls on the IOC to investigate how Van de Velde could be selected for the Dutch Olympic team: “How did we get here? How did we get to a point where raping a child is considered less important than the medal someone can win at the Olympic Games? It is simply extraordinary.”
A online petition launched last month, is trying to disqualify Van de Velde from the Paris 2024 Games. It has collected more than 83,000 signatures so far, as of Thursday afternoon.
“Van De Velde’s tainted record cannot be swept under the carpet,” reads a statement from petition organizer Lauren Muir. “This is about more than just one person; it’s about the global image of the Olympics and the kind of society we want to live in.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Crime Victims Assistance Centre for assistance. They can also be reached toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
— With files from The Associated Press
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Kathryn Mannie
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