A Dutch Olympic volleyball player, Steven van de Velde, has been denied a visa to compete in the upcoming Beach Volleyball World Championships in Adelaide, Australia. The decision follows his conviction for raping a British girl a decade ago. Van de Velde, now 31, had pleaded guilty in 2016 to three counts of raping a 12-year-old girl in Milton Keynes in 2014. He was sentenced to four years in prison, of which he served 12 months before resuming his professional volleyball career in 2018.
Two weeks prior to the visa denial, South Australia’s Attorney-General Kyam Maher urged the federal government to reject Van de Velde’s application, characterizing his previous actions as “utterly abhorrent.” Maher’s letter emphasized a stance against allowing foreign child sex offenders entry into Australia.
Australia’s Home Affairs Minister, Tony Burke, affirmed the government’s commitment to ensuring the safety of Australians in their communities. Following the incident in 2014, Van de Velde returned to the Netherlands, but was extradited to the UK in 2016 where he was arrested and sentenced. The court had noted that he was aware of the girl’s age at the time of the offense.
Van de Velde went on to represent the Netherlands at the Paris Olympics, where he faced public backlash, including being booed by spectators. An online petition advocating for his ban from the Olympics garnered around 90,000 signatures. The BBC has reached out to both the organizers of the upcoming world championship event and the Dutch national volleyball association for their comments regarding the visa rejection.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly9z3r1dmzo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss