The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that it is satisfied with the explanations given by the Dutch Olympic team regarding the participation of an athlete convicted of rape at the Paris Games and that he will compete as is planned, BTA reported.
Steven van de Velde, selected last month in the Netherlands squad for Paris, was sentenced to four years in prison in Britain in 2016 after raping a 12-year-old girl two years earlier when he was 19. After serving part of his sentence there, he was transferred to the Netherlands and his sentence was subject to the rules of local law. Van de Velde has been competing again in beach volleyball since 2017 and will play on Sunday in the men's preliminary round.
"To characterize it as comfortable or happy would not be correct," IOC spokesman Mark Adams told a press conference when asked if the IOC was comfortable with the situation with Steven van de Velde and him competing at the Olympics .
"We made it clear that we were in long talks with the Dutch Olympic Committee. A crime happened 10 years ago, a large-scale rehabilitation was carried out and serious precautions are in place. The athlete does not even stay in the village. We believe that the NOC has explained its decision. "Comfortable and happy, characterize it however you want, but the statement they gave us is correct and we will continue with the situation as it is," Adams added.
The Dutch team took steps to mitigate the impact of Van de Velde's involvement by moving him to alternative accommodation in Paris rather than the Olympic Village. He was also banned from speaking to the media.