Paris Olympics 2024: Dutch player convicted of sexual assault booed for participating
Paris Olympics 2024: Dutch beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde, convicted of r@ping a minor a decade ago, was roundly booed by the crowd during the Netherlands' opening match at the Paris Olympics 2024.
Social media video showed jeers and boos ringing out when van de Velde and his partner Matthew Immers went out into the arena at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
The duo was eventually defeated by the Italian team Alex Ranghieri and Adrian Carambula.
Van de Velde's participation in these Olympic Games has sparked outrage, as he was sentenced to four years in prison for r@ping a 12-year-old child in 2014, CNN reported, citing British media. He was released in 2017 and is currently 29 years old.
Despite the outpouring of criticism directed at the Dutch National Olympic Committee for picking him, the International Olympic Committee defended the decision as "correct," claiming that van de Velde had undergone "a great deal of rehabilitation."
Immers defended his teammate against criticism, telling reporters, "What happened in the past is history. He received a punishment and is now really kind. For me, it shows how (he) evolved and learnt a lot from it."
- PTC NEWS
