A beach volleyball player from the Netherlands who was previously convicted of raping a minor has been selected to represent the country at the upcoming Paris Olympics. Steven van de Velde will be taking part in the event alongside Matthew Immers.
The volleyball player, who was from Amsterdam, traveled to the UK to rape a girl after they met through Facebook in 2014.
The court ruled that he knew her age at that time. In 2016, he was sentenced to spend four years in jail after admitting to the crimes.
After serving a year of his sentence, he was released in April. According to the Netherlands Olympic Committee, he met all the necessary criteria to qualify for the upcoming Olympics.
In 2018, he resumed playing beach volleyball.
The Australian reported that despite his criminal background, Van de Velde has passed all the necessary psychological and probationary checks.
He continues to cooperate with the authorities and the Dutch Olympic Committee.
The organization that manages the Olympics, the IOC, has reportedly raised concerns about the selection of the athlete.
The decisions regarding the selection of individual members of the team are those of the respective national Olympic committees.
The IOC noted that it would refer the matter to the Dutch NOC.
In a statement, van de Velde noted that he understood that his criminal background would be talked about by international media during the Olympics.
He also said that he could not reverse the incident.
In an interview with a Dutch television station in 2018, van de Velde said that he made the wrong choices in his life and that he would have to carry the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life.
He noted that he was still a teenager when he made the decisions that he did.
“Any form of help would have been very very helpful, maybe that’s what I would have told myself, seek help.”