Dutch beach volleyballer convicted of child rape faces Olympic isolation
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Netherlands' Steven van de Velde (right) against Brazil’s Evandro during the volleyball Beach Pro Tour Elite 16 final match in Brasilia, on May 5.
PHOTO: AFP
THE HAGUE – A Dutch beach volleyball player, who was convicted in 2016 of raping an underaged girl, will be isolated from his teammates at the Paris Olympics and banned from talking to the media, officials said on July 21.
Steven van de Velde, now 29, was sentenced to four years in prison in Britain in 2016 after admitting to three counts of rape against a 12-year-old girl two years earlier when he was 19.
After serving part of his sentence there, he was transferred to the Netherlands and his sentence was adjusted to the norms of Dutch law. Van de Velde has been competing in beach volleyball again since 2017 and was named in their Olympic team in June.
In order to “establish calm”, the Dutch Olympic Committee decided on July 21 that van de Velde will also not be allowed to enter the Olympic Village, Dutch press agency ANP reported.
According to the Dutch Volleyball Federation, he admitted to having made “the biggest mistake of (his) young life”.
“I cannot go back, so I will have to bear the consequences,” he said.
The Dutch Olympic Committee and the volleyball federation said they had consulted experts who judged there is “zero chance” of van de Velde reoffending.
Former swimming star and head of the Dutch delegation, Pieter van den Hoogenband, was “surprised at the agitation around” the athlete, who is “holding on strong despite the turmoil”.
“He has been active in international sport and the world of beach volleyball for a long time,” van den Hoogenband told broadcaster NOS. “He has participated in World Cups and European Championships but, you see that around the Games, it is different. Things are amplified around the Games. We have taken good steps together. All the athletes are dear to me and I try to support them.”
Kate Seary, co-founder and director of Kyniska Advocacy, which works for the protection and respect of women in sport, said: “His participation sends a message to everyone that sporting prowess trumps crime.”
International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams reiterated on July 20 that the body had no role in the decision to pick van de Velde for the Games. The selection of athletes for the Olympics rests with each national committee.
“They have put out a statement, they’ve made it very clear there’s a lot of safeguarding going on, special extra safeguarding,” he told a news conference in Paris.
AFP, REUTERS
