Petition to disqualify a child molester from the Olympic Games

More than 100,000 people have signed an online petition to disqualify a convicted child rapist from competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Last month, the Dutch Olympic Committee (NOC) approved the nomination of 29-year-old Steven van de Velde to the Dutch national beach volleyball team ahead of the Games. In 2016, van de Velde was convicted of three counts of rape of a 12-year-old girl in 2014, when he was 19 years old.

The NOC’s decision sparked outrage among the public, domestic and sexual violence advocates and legal experts, but the decision remained unchanged. Van de Velde played his Olympic debut match on Sunday and is expected to play in the second group match on August 1.

Last Friday, Lauren Muir started a petition on change.org calling on people to join her in calling for the rapist to be disqualified from participating in the Games.

“This petition is personal to many of us. It was born out of a deep sense of justice that seemed to have been overlooked in the case of Steven van de Velde, a convicted child molester who is now eligible to compete in the Olympics,” Muir wrote in the petition’s description.

“Van de Velde’s dismal record should 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.”

Muir called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to take action and exclude van de Velde from the rest of the tournament. The IOC had previously stated that the selection of athletes was the responsibility of each country’s committee.

Within 24 hours of the petition being published, nearly 90,000 people signed it. At the time of publication, the petition has received 114,361 signatures.

The petition signers explained their reasons for signing the petition (some of which, Muir said, were based on their own experiences of sexual violence).

“If this guy raped a member of your family, you wouldn’t let him join in,” one man said.

“It’s important to me that this guy doesn’t make it to the Olympics to compete on the most prestigious platform in the world because we need to show that there are consequences for your actions. And if you try to hurt children, you can’t go back to a normal life because they never will. Stop this guy,” one woman said.

“Sign because who are we if we don’t support this cause? Who are we?” one person said.

Van de Velde was released from prison in 2017 after serving only a quarter of his sentence. He resumed his volleyball career the following year and has since represented his country in several international tournaments.

In his Olympic beach volleyball debut at the weekend, van de Velde was booed by the crowd as he entered the court.

Speaking to reporters, van de Velde’s teammate Matthew Immers said: “What’s past is past.”

“He got his punishment and is really nice now,” said Immers. “For me it’s an example of how he has grown and learned a lot.”