A scandalous event saw Dutch beach volleyball player, Steven van de VeldeMan found guilty of raping a twelve-year-old British girl, qualify for the forthcoming Paris Olympics. The news generated considerable debate due to his track record and the gravity of his offenses.
Dutch Van de Velde had been sentenced in March 2016 to four years imprisonment after pleading guilty to three counts of rape involving a child he met on Facebook. He was nineteen years old when the crime was committed in August 2014 and travelled from Holland to the UK to meet up with the victim. Judge Francis Sheridan said at trial that Van de Velde’s hopes “to represent his country at the Olympics were destroyed”.
“You were training as an aspiring Olympian before coming to this country. You have now seen those aspirations dashed,” Judge Francis Sheridan told him.
Nonetheless, Van de Velde served only one year in a Dutch prison before being released and has since sought a return to Olympic competition. He is now part of France’s national beach volleyball team which will be playing alongside Matthew Eames during the Paris games. They are currently ranked number eleven globally.
This situation presents a great moral dilemma for IOC (International Olympic Committee) because all Olympians must sign the Declaration of Athlete Rights and Responsibilities including their commitment towards serving as role models.
The athlete’s lawyer Linda Struwick described this case as meaning no more professional career for him and how he had been mischaracterised by media as “sex” monster.The defense counsel argued that what happened with van der Velde represented an end of sport career for him, while stressing on how media has depicted him as some kind of “sexual” beast.
However, van de VeldeNow aged 29, he has rebuilt his life successfully. Therefore it raises questions about what happens when athletes who have committed serious crimes are declared fit to play again in high-profile events like this man has just done – gaining entry into Paris 2024.
Van de Velde had traveled from Amsterdam to Milton Keynes and had sex with a 12-year-old girl he met on the internet. The court heard said that he was communicating with the victim through social media before arranging a visit and raped her when her mother was not around during her visit.
According to Judge Sheridan, “Your actions have ruined your life -you could have become a leader in the sport if you never came to England and did these crimes. A Young, naive, stupid kids have been conditioned to think you love her when in reality you just met her online, never met her before and are fully aware of the age difference.
In 2017 after serving his sentence, van de Velde denied being a sex offender or paedophile and aimed at correcting lies said about him while he was incarcerated.He stated: “I want to correct all the nonsense that has been said about me during my time in prison. I chose not to read any of it deliberately but I know it is very serious and calls me a sex monster, a pedophile. “I am not really not.
They can say what they like about me but should hear my side of things too.
The National Society for Prevention of Cruelty against Children (NSPCC) expressed its outrage at Van De Velde’s lack of remorse and self-pity as well as highlighting how grooming can permanently affect victims.
His participation in the Paris Olympics has been undetermined by the Dutch Olympic Committee and the country’s volleyball federation because they have not offered a statement about van de Velde. We also sought for an answer from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding his presence on the Olympian team.
