Paris 2024 Olympic Games: “He has served his sentence”, convicted of rape of a minor, an athlete will participate in the Olympic Games this summer

Steven Van de Velde aura le droit à une seconde chance, à Paris. XinHua – Lucio Tavora

Un homme condamné en 2016 pour le viol d'une mineure a été sélectionné dans l'équipe néerlandaise de beach-volley pour les Jeux Olympiques de Paris, a confirmé jeudi la Fédération néerlandaise.

Steven van de Velde, now 29, was sentenced to four years in prison after admitting to the rape of a 12-year-old girl, according to the British newspaper The Telegraph.< /p>

The athlete served part of his sentence in Great Britain then was transferred to the Netherlands where he was eventually released before returning to volleyball in 2017. "We know the story of Steven", said Michel Everaert, general secretary of the Dutch Volleyball Federation (Nevobo), in a statement. "He was convicted at the time under English law, and he served his sentence", t- he added.

"No reason to doubt him"

Experts, consulted by Nevobo and the Dutch Olympic Committee, judged that there was "no chance" that Van de Velde does it again, he stressed. Michel Everaert still believes that the player has been "fully reintegrated into the Dutch volleyball community".

"He proves to be a professional and an exemplary human being, and there's no reason to doubt him since his return&quot ;. According to the Dutch Federation, the player admitted to having made "the biggest mistake of (his) young life". "I can't go back, I will have to therefore bear the consequences", he is said to have declared.