Dutch volleyball player jailed for raping 12-year-old British girl ‘will NOT stay in the athletes’ village during Paris Olympics’ as his participation in the Games sparks fierce reaction

• Steven van de Velde travelled from the Netherlands to the UK to meet the girl
• He was sentenced to four years in prison, but was released after serving one year of his sentence
• His volleyball partner Matthew Immers is to stay in the village

A convicted sex offender Olympian who raped a 12-year-old girl has decided not to stay in the athletes’ village at the Paris Games, according to a report.

Dutch volleyball player Steven van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison after flying from the Netherlands to the UK in August 2014 to meet the schoolgirl after the two began chatting on Facebook.

The 19-year-old sportsman, knowing how young the girl was at the time, was sentenced to four years in prison in March 2016 after admitting to three counts of rape. He was released in 2017 after serving only one year of his sentence.

But although the judge at the time described Van de Velde’s promising career as a “shattered dream”, the volleyball player is now on the verge of returning to the spotlight after securing his place at the Paris Games.

However, according to BILD, he will not stay overnight in the Olympic Village with other athletes as usual, but will stay in other accommodations in Paris.

“I can’t undo what happened and I have to accept the consequences,” said the now 29-year-old after his sentencing. “It was the biggest mistake of my life.”

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Van de Velde’s partner in the volleyball team, Matthew Immers, will apparently stay in the village and will be responsible for media work after the games.

However, according to the report, the player will try to speak to the media before the competition to explain his inclusion.

“At that time, the considerations and conditions for his return to elite sport were determined by the Dutch Volleyball Association (NeVoBo) and NOC*NSF partly on the basis of the NOC*NSF Guidelines Integrity Record. These guidelines set out, among other things, the conditions under which athletes can return to elite sport after a conviction.

In a statement, the Dutch Olympic Committee*Dutch Sports Association said there was no reason to exclude Van de Velde from participating in the Games.

“Since 2018, Steven van de Velde has been taking part in international beach volleyball tournaments again after intensive, professionally supervised training,” a spokesman told Mail Sport.

“Steven van de Velde has now fulfilled all the qualification criteria for the Olympic Games and is therefore part of the group of athletes who officially transferred from the Dutch national federations to the NOC*NSF on July 4, which will then be responsible for them during the Olympic Games.”

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The International Olympic Committee, which runs the Games, said: “The nomination of individual team members after qualification on the field of play is the sole responsibility of the respective National Olympic Committee. We therefore turn to the Dutch NOC for further information.”

Van de Velde and Immers are currently ranked 10th in the world.