Dutch beach volleyball player who was imprisoned for rape has qualified for the Olympic Games in Paris

FILE – Steven van de Velde of the Netherlands competes in the men’s semifinals of the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Vienna 2022 against Austria at the Red Bull Beach Arena in Vienna, Austria, on Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Van de Velde, who was convicted and jailed in England eight years ago for the rape of an underage girl, has qualified for the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Florian Schroetter, File)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Dutch beach volleyball player who was convicted and jailed for raping an underage girl in Britain eight years ago has qualified for the Paris Olympics.

Steven van de Velde and his partner Matthew Immers were one of two Dutch men’s teams to qualify for the beach volleyball competition at the Paris Games, which begin in the French capital on July 26. Most beach pairs qualify for the 24-team Olympic field by earning points on the international tour; Van de Velde and Immers finished 11th on the points list.

“I understand that this can attract international media attention ahead of the biggest sporting event in the world,” Van de Velde said in a statement posted on the Dutch Volleyball Association’s website. “I cannot undo it, so I will have to face the consequences. It was the biggest mistake of my life.”

Van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison in the UK after being found guilty in 2016 of having sex with an underage girl he allegedly met online. Under an agreement between the two countries, he was extradited to the Netherlands and re-sentenced under Dutch law.

“After his release, Van de Velde sought and received professional counseling. He demonstrated self-awareness and self-reflection to those around him – both privately and professionally,” the association said.

It went on to say that both the association and the Dutch Olympic Committee and the International Volleyball Federation “rely on the opinion of experts who consider the probability of a relapse to be zero.”

The Dutch Olympic Committee said Van de Velde, now 29, met the necessary conditions to return after a conviction and resumed his career in 2017 “after an intensive, professionally supervised process.”

“Van de Velde now meets all qualification requirements for the Olympic Games and is therefore part of the team,” the committee said in a statement.

The International Volleyball Federation said it was aware that this was a highly sensitive matter, but stressed that the selection of teams was the responsibility of the National Olympic Committee, “in compliance with the participation criteria”.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games