Dutch officials back Olympic rapist Steven Van de Velde despite Paris outcry

Dutch officials claim to be surprised at the international reaction to their convicted child rapist Steven Van de Velde participating in the Paris Olympic Games.

Dutch officials have been surprised at the international reaction to their convicted child rapist beach volleyballer Steven Van de Velde participating in the Paris Olympic Games.

The Netherlands Chef de mission Pieter van den Hoogenband, a former top swimmer, said the global reaction had been “a Games’ exaggeration”.

Van de Velde, who raped a 12 year old British girl in 2014, serving 13 months of a four year jail sentence, has also enjoyed strong support from his playing partner Matthew Immers.

Van den Hoogenband stressed that Van De Velde, now 29, and married with a young child, had played in international volleyball soon after his release from jail in 2017.

“He has been active in international sports, the beach volleyball world, for a long time. He has played in World Cups, European Championships and World Championships, but then you see that things are different around the Games. That things are exaggerated around the Games,” Van de Velde said in an interview with Dutch news service NOS.

Dutch volleyball player Steven van de Velde was convicted of child rape in 2016. Picture: Pablo Morano/Getty Images

Immers said he had anticipated a strong reaction to van de Veld’s Olympic participation, but insisted his team mate was “fun and good company”.

”It’s a shame that people talk about him like that,” said Immers.

“I know the Steven of today, and I’m happy about that. He’s a very good partner for me. We have fun and good company on and off the field, that’s the most important thing for me.”

Van de Velde knew the age of the girl when he travelled from The Netherlands to London to meet the girl whom he had met online. When he was sentenced the judge said that his Olympic dreams were finished.

Australian Olympic chef de mission Anna Meares. Picture: Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

The Dutch national Olympic Committee selection of Van de Velde has caused an outcry among victims groups as well as other countries, including Australia.

The British say they have grave concerns about his selection, while Australian chef de mission Anna Meares said van de Velde would not have been selected if he had been Australian because of additional safeguarding rules surrounding the Australian team.

Meares, who stepped in to answer a question about the convicted rapist van de Velde, which was directed to Australia beach volleyball Olympic medallists Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del solar, reinforced the Australian Olympic team’s strict athlete code of conduct.

“It’s not in our position to comment on other NOCs and their policies that they have in place,” Meares said.

Nothing to see here: Pieter van den Hoogenban believes the response to a Dutch rapist being included in the Olympics team is an overreaction.

“But what we can comment on is the policies that we have in place with the Australian Olympic team. And if an athlete or a staff member had that conviction, they wouldn’t be allowed to be a member of our team, where we have very stringent policies around the safeguarding within our team.”

The International Olympic Committee says the responsibility for selections lies with the national Olympic committees.

The Dutch Olympic committee tried to mitigate the attention around van de Velde’s inclusion on their team, moving him to alternative accommodation in Paris and banning him from speaking to the media.

Van den Hoogenband, an Olympic champion himself, told Dutch television on Sunday their focus was on helping the van de Velde perform well.

“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,” van den Hoogenband said.

Van den Hoogenband also reportedly said he was surprised by “the fuss.”

“To be honest, I was a bit surprised by the fuss,” Van den Hoogenband told NOS. “He has been active in international sport, the beach volleyball world, for some time. He has played World Cups, European Championships and World Cups, but then you see that things are different around the Games. That things are magnified.”

Van den Hoogenband also said he hoped there would be a focus on the sport again.

“Hopefully it can soon be about the sport again,” Van den Hoogenband said.

The beach volleyball tournament at the Games starts on July 27 and will take place under the Eiffel Tower.

Originally published as Dutch officials back Olympic rapist Steven Van de Velde despite Paris outcry