Dutch volleyball player who raped 12yo girl muzzled at Paris Olympics

A beach volleyball player convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl has been given a media ban throughout the 2024 Paris Olympics.

A volleyball star convicted of raping a 12-year-old British girl has been banned from speaking to media at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Steven van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison in Britain in 2016 following the rape two years earlier when he was 19.

He served part of his sentence in the UK before being transferred to his native Netherlands before he was released after serving 13 months of his sentence.

His sporting career resumed just months after he was released in 2017. He was then controversially named in the Dutch Olympic team last month.

The Dutch Olympic committee, along with Van de Velde and playing partner Matthew Immers, took steps to mitigate the impact of his participation.

Along with being put on a ban from talking to the media, van de Velde won’t be staying in the Olympic athletes village.

Chef de mission Pieter van den Hoogenband told Dutch TV: “He’s not going to downplay it (his conviction).

“We have to respect that and help him as a member of the team to be able to perform.”

Steven van de Velde won’t be speaking to the media. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

Van de Velde’s opening game, with his playing partner Mathew Immers, will take place underneath the Eiffel Tower on Wednesday July 31 which will attract huge international scrutiny.

Olympic officials are reviewing the usual protocols for Van de Velde where athletes usually walk through a “mixed zone” after competition, where they can face questions from television, radio and print journalists.

If the protocol is changed for Van de Velde, and he is whisked away without facing the media, it will invite huge criticism of the organisers and the IOC that they are protecting a convicted rapist.

Kate Seary, co-founder and director of Kyniska Advocacy, which works for the protection and respect of women in sports, said: “His participation sends a message to everyone that sporting prowess trumps crime.”

International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams reiterated that the body had no role in the decision to select Van de Velde.

“They have put out a statement, they’ve made it very clear there’s a lot of safeguarding going on, special extra safeguarding,” Adams said.

Van de Velde setting the ball for his teammate. (Photo by Andrea Kareth /SEPA.Media /Getty Images)

Van de Velde, 29, previously spoke to Dutch media about the incident, saying he “can’t reverse” what happened.

“I will have to bear the consequences. It has been the biggest mistake of my life,” he said.

Van de Velde earlier told Dutch broadcaster NOS in 2018: “I made that choice in my life when I wasn’t ready, I was a teenager still figuring things out.”

“I was sort of lost and now I have so much more life experience, aside from just being incarcerated.

“Any form of help would have been very very helpful, maybe that’s what I would have told myself, seek help.”