British Olympic chiefs ‘aired considerations’ over Dutch volleyball participant
- Steven van de Velde travelled from the Netherlands to the UK to meet the girl
- He was jailed for four years but was released after serving a year of his sentence
- British Olympic chiefs ‘aired concerns’ over him staying at the Athletes’ Village
British Olympic chiefs ‘made their displeasure known’ over the prospect of a convicted sex offender Olympian who raped a 12-year-old girl staying at the Athletes’ Village.
Dutch volleyball player Steven van de Velde was jailed for four years after he flew from the Netherlands to the UK to meet the schoolgirl in August 2014 after the pair started chatting on Facebook.
The sportsman, who was 19 and knew how young the girl was at the time, was sentenced in March 2016 to four years in prison after admitting three counts of rape. He was released in 2017 having only served a year of his sentence.
But despite the judge at the time telling Van de Velde his promising career was a ‘shattered dream’, the volleyball player is set to return at the Paris Games.
Last week, reports confirmed that van de Velde would not be staying at the Athletes’ Village and now it’s emerged that the British Olympic Association had aired concerns over the matter.
Andy Anson, the British Olympic Association’s chief executive, confirmed that they aired concerns over convicted sex offender Olympian Steven van de Velde staying at the Village
The Dutch volleyball player (pictured), who was sentenced to four years in prison for raping a 12-year-old British girl, will not be staying with the other athletes
According to The Times, Andy Anson, the British Olympic Association’s chief executive, said the organisation contacted the IOC and the Dutch Olympic Committee.
‘I can’t ever foresee a way where someone with that kind of criminal record would be able to pass the safeguarding test and be selected,’ he said.
‘We did make our displeasure known to the IOC and the Dutch Olympic Committee. We have young 15-year-olds in the village and I personally wouldn’t feel comfortable having someone with that kind of record in the village with them.
‘So I think the Dutch finally saw sense and took him out of the village, which was the least I think that could happen.’
In a previous statement, the Dutch Olympic Committee said there was no reason to exclude Van de Velde from taking part at the Games.
‘Since 2018, Steven van de Velde has been participating in international beach volleyball tournaments again following an intensive, professionally supervised trajectory,’ a spokesperson told Mail Sport.
Van de Velde’s partner, Matthew Immes, is set to stay in the Village and conduct media duties
‘Meanwhile, Steven van de Velde has met all qualification criteria for the Olympic Games and is therefore included in the group of athletes who formally passed over on July 4 from the Dutch national federations to NOC, who then becomes responsible for them during the Olympic Games.’
The International Olympic Committee, which governs the Games, said: ‘The nomination of individual team members, following qualification on the field of play, is the sole responsibility of each respective National Olympic Committee. Therefore, we would refer to the Dutch NOC for any further information.’
Van de Velde’s partner in the volleyball team, Matthew Immers, is understood to be staying in the village and he will be the one to attend media duties after matches.
Van de Velde and Immers are currently ranked 10th in the world.
