Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/DeFodi Images/Cameron Spencer
Topics: Netherlands, Olympics, World News, Sport
Joe Yates
Topics: Netherlands, Olympics, World News, Sport
Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse and rape which some readers may find distressing.
A convicted child rapist, who has been permitted to play for his country in the summer Olympics, was met with thunderous boos by the audience as he made his debut.
In 2016, Van de Velde admitted to three counts of rape against a 12-year-old girl when he was 19 and was convicted and sentenced to four years.
He had met the child on Facebook and traveled from the Netherlands to the UK to meet her.
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After serving part of his sentence in the UK, Van de Velde was transferred to a prison in his home country.
There, his sentence was reviewed and he was released after serving just 12 months.
Despite his crime, the 29-year-old beach volleyball player has been allowed to represent his country in the Paris 2024 Olympic games and took to the court for the first time today (28 July).
He walked out with his partner Matthew Immers as they took on Italy in the stadium situated in front of the Eiffel Tower - with the score coming in at 2-1 to the Italians.
A petition has been created on Change.org with the intent of disqualifying the Olympian has gained more than 95,000 signatures.
Still, the Olympic Committee has allowed van de Velde to continue to play, he is due to take the court on Wednesday (31 July) when the Dutch play Chile, and then again on Friday (2 August) against the Norwegians.
Prior to the tournament, the Dutch National Olympic Committee issued a statement.
It read: "Already since 2017, Steven van de Velde - after an intensive professionally supervised process with, among others, the probation service - is once again participating in international beach volleyball tournaments.
"At the time, the considerations and conditions for return to top-level sports were determined by both Nevobo and NOC*NSF [National Olympic Committee] partly on the basis of the Guideline Integrity History of NOC*NSF [National Olympic Committee], which sets out, among other things, the conditions under which athletes in top-level sports can return after a conviction.
"Van de Velde now meets all the qualification requirements for the Olympic Games and is therefore part of the team."
Netherlands Chef de Mission, Pieter van den Hoogenband, has also addressed the backlash.
He told Dutch news agency Nos: "To be honest, I was a bit surprised by the fuss. He [Van de Velde] has been active in international sport, the beach volleyball world, for some time. He has played European Championships and World Cups, but then you see that things are different around the Games. That things are exaggerated.
"He’s not going to downplay it. We have to respect that and help him as a member of the team to be able to perform."
While International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesperson Mark Adams said: "They have put out a statement, they've made it very clear there's a lot of safeguarding going on, special extra safeguarding."
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org.