Dutch men's beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde, who was convicted of raping a child, faced boos as he took the sand on Sunday.
A Dutch men’s volleyball player, who was convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl in 2016, was booed during his team’s opening match at the Paris Olympics on Sunday. Steven van de Velde’s record resurfaced when he qualified as one of the top two Dutch teams on the international tour. He faced several boos when he took the sand for warmups, but the reaction from the crowd in Paris got louder during pre-match introductions.
Van de Velde served 13 months in prison for having sex with a 12-year-old and his participation faced criticism from others at the Olympics. 'If an athlete or a staff member had that conviction, they wouldn’t be allowed to be a member of our team,' Anna Mears, the head of the Australian delegation, said earlier in the week. 'We do have a number of athletes under 18 and under 16 and so those policies are well in action for safeguarding of our team.
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