Dutch Olympic team officials admit to ‘protecting child molesters’ as beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde, convicted of paedophilia, is allowed to skip post-match interviews

The Dutch Olympic team has admitted to “protecting a child molester” after beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde was allowed to skip his post-match interviews.

The 29-year-old was booed by the crowd as he entered the clay court in the Champs de Mars park under the Eiffel Tower for his debut match on Sunday.

Olympic officials have ignored a petition signed by 100,000 people calling for van de Velde’s disqualification. The athlete, who was sentenced to four years in prison in Great Britain, raped a 12-year-old British girl in 2014 at the age of 19.

The 1.98m tall athlete, wearing the number ‘one’ in the Dutch national colours of blue and orange, did not seem to react to the negative reaction and only took off his dark, white-rimmed sunglasses to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

He and his doubles partner Matthew Immers, 23, were cheered on by Dutch fans in the crowd with chants of “Nederlands”, but they lost their opening match 2-1 to Italian opponents.

The Dutch national team has caused outrage by giving its rapist player special treatment at the Games. He has his own accommodation outside the Olympic Village and a squad of bodyguards.

Yesterday, he was even allowed to forgo media interviews after the game – despite the strict rules of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which require all athletes to speak to reporters immediately after their competition.

He is expected to play at least two more matches during the tournament when the Netherlands face Chile and Norway.

His teammate Immers told reporters that Van de Velde was “not here because he just wants to rest his mind.”

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He added that he was “disappointed by the amount of attention” the controversy received, but not disappointed by his teammate’s behavior. He said: “No, not at all. I don’t want to talk about that.”

John van Vliet, press spokesman for the Dutch team, admitted they had circumvented the rules requiring athletes to give interviews, saying: “A different situation has arisen for Steven. We are well aware that when we bring Steven here, the questions will have nothing to do with his sport and his performance.”

When asked if he understood that protecting a child molester did not make a good impression, he replied: “We are protecting a convicted child molester so that he can play his sport to the best of his ability and for a tournament for which he has qualified.”

A Dutch fan wrote on social media: “Friendly reminder that after what he did, Steven van de Velde should never, in any universe, represent our country at the Olympics.”

BBC sports journalist Laura Scott, who was at the stadium, tweeted: “When van de Velde was introduced to the crowd here one by one, there was clear booing. Many people I spoke to outside said they were sad to see him here and said it was against the Olympic values. But some Dutch fans said they would support him because they felt he had served his time.”

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After serving twelve months of his four-year sentence in a British prison, British authorities sent him back to the Netherlands, where he served only one month before being released.

After Sunday’s game, Immers admitted that the reaction to van de Velde’s past came as a surprise and that he “did not expect” it.

He told Dutch broadcaster NOS: “Of course we don’t like that. That something like that happens. Suddenly, after three years, it comes to the surface at such a big tournament.”

“Because I’ve known him for three years and played with him. For me, it actually came out of nowhere. At least it was that big.”

The 23-year-old said the press should ask van de Velde himself if the boos bothered him – although this was unlikely as he had been told he was not allowed to speak to the press during the Olympics.

He added: “Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but we just want to play the tournament as well as we can.”

The controversy surrounding van de Velde’s nomination had been simmering for weeks, and even with the start of the Olympic Games, no abatement was expected.

On Saturday, it was reported that a senior Dutch Olympic official insisted in an email: “Steven is NOT a pedophile (sic); you really don’t think the Dutch NOC would send someone to Paris who IS a real risk? No, he is not a risk.”

A petition calling on Olympic chiefs to exclude van de Velde from the Games has already received more than 108,000 signatures and the British Olympic Association has expressed its anger at his participation.

The forum, launched by Lauren Muir, states: “Van de Velde’s dismal record must not be swept under the carpet, nor should it be seen as a symbol of achievement at such a prestigious event as the Olympic Games.”

“This is about more than just one person; it’s about the global image of the Olympic Games and the kind of society we want to live in.”

The Dutch Olympic Committee said in a statement last week that it was “implementing concrete measures to ensure a safe sports environment for all participants.”

“These measures include, at van de Velde’s request, alternative accommodation for van de Velde and no media contact during his stay in Paris,” a spokesman said.

He claimed the measures were in line with “standard practice” and had been developed following a “thorough risk assessment taking into account all affected groups”.

The spokesman said the assessment had strengthened the committee’s “confidence in the safety of all those involved.”

Van de Velde had returned to top international sport after being convicted of a sexual offense in Great Britain in 2014.

“His return was possible after a special treatment program,” the spokesman said.

The uproar caused by this incident became clear upon his arrival in Paris, when he disembarked from a Eurostar train from Rotterdam amid tight security in the French capital.

During his trial almost a decade ago, Aylesbury Crown Court heard that van de Velde had travelled to the UK, met his victim and had sex with her.

Sandra Beck, the public prosecutor, told the court at the time: “She described how she had met Steven van de Velde through Facebook, how they spoke to each other regularly through Facebook and how he made her feel special.”

“She made it clear that she was seven years younger than him. This relationship via social media lasted for a while.”

The volleyball player’s victim had added him as a friend on Facebook after he made a positive comment on one of her photos, the court heard.

The next day, the couple slept in cardboard boxes under the stairs at the Premier Inn, having once again been denied a room. She took him to her empty house and he took her virginity.

Before returning to the Netherlands, van de Velde advised her to take the morning-after pill since they had not used contraception. Her visit to a family planning clinic alerted the authorities, who intervened because of the girl’s young age.

The sportsman from Westeinde, 46, Voorburg, Netherlands, was extradited to the United Kingdom on January 8, where he was arrested on suspicion of sexual conduct. He later admitted three counts of rape of a child.

Defence lawyer Linda Strudwick insisted that the flight to England was a “spontaneous decision” and said van de Velde was not a “predatory young man”.

Aylesbury Crown Court heard that his victim later injured himself following the trauma of the encounter.

Judge Francis Sheridan even told van de Velde at the time: “Your hopes of representing your country are now a shattered dream.”

And his own defense attorney Linda Strudwick also said: “He has lost an outstanding sporting career and is branded a rapist. This is clearly the end of his career.”

However, Van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison and, under a treaty between the two countries, was transferred from Britain to the Netherlands to serve the remainder of his sentence.

The agreement allowed the charges and sentence to be adjusted to Dutch law. For example, the charge of rape was changed to indecency. This meant that he could be released in 2017 after serving just one year of his original sentence.

After his release, he said: “I want to correct all the nonsense that was written about me while I was incarcerated.”

“I didn’t read it on purpose, but I understand that it was pretty bad that I was branded a sex monster, a pedophile. I’m not that, really not.”

“Everyone can have their opinion about me, but it’s only fair that they also know my side of the story.”

Since his release from prison, van de Velde has successfully rebuilt his life and is now married to a well-known professional volleyball colleague from Germany.

Kim Behrens and van de Velde married in 2022 and have a little son together.

Behrens, a police officer and athlete at the same time, adores her 1.98 meter tall husband and regularly posts romantic content about their life together on social media.