The Dutch Olympic Committee has yet to ratify its selection for the Paris Games. Steven van de Velde, partnered with Matthew Immers, qualified for the beach volleyball event. If he participates, there could be an outcry against the 29-year-old athlete, convicted in 2016 in the United Kingdom for the rape of a 12-year-old girl, as indicated The Telegraph.
The daily indicates that van de Velde had received four years in prison for three counts of rape which he had admitted. After meeting the little girl on Facebook, the Dutchman, then aged 19, flew to Great Britain in August 2014 to meet his victim at his home in Milton Keynes, in the absence of her mother.
One year in prison served in the Netherlands
Van de Velde (29 years old today) was extradited and spent a year in a Dutch prison before being released and then resuming his sporting career.
As noted The Telegrapheven if van de Velde has served his sentence, his presence in Paris would pose a moral problem, while every Olympic athlete is called upon to sign a declaration of rights and duties in which he undertakes in particular, according to point 7 of the “duties” category, to “act as a model”.