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Steven van de Velde, the Dutch beach volleyball player who served time in prison for having sex with a 12-year-old girl, received a mixture of boos and applause when he was introduced before losing his opening match on Sunday at the Paris Olympics.
Van de Velde did not speak to reporters after the three-set loss to Italy, a break with a longstanding IOC policy. “He’s not here because he just wanted to rest his mind about it and just focus on the game,” said teammate Matthew Immers, who said he did not notice the crowd reaction.
Dutch team spokesman John van Vliet said the decision to shelter Van de Velde was made by the national Olympic committee and shared with the International Olympic Committee. Asked if they were protecting a convicted child rapist, he said: “We are protecting a convicted child rapist to do his sport as best as possible and for a tournament which he qualified for."
“The general matter of sex conviction and sex-related crime is definitely a more important issue than sport,” Van Vliet said in the mixed zone after the match. “In his case, we’ve got a person who has been convicted, who did his sentence, who did everything afterwards which he can do to be able to compete again.”
Van de Velde was convicted in 2016 of having sex with a 12-year-old girl in England. He served a combined 13 months in prison in Britain and the Netherlands.
The 29-year-old Olympic rookie was greeted with only a handful of boos when he first took the sand for warmups, but the hooting was louder for the more formal prematch introduction. Immers — and all the other players appearing on the sand so far in the Summer Games — received nothing but cheers.
There were no other signs of protest at the match, which came on the first sunny day at the Olympics’ iconic venue at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
The controversy has caught the Dutch pair off-guard after a two-year qualifying period in which Van de Velde's record was not an issue. However, it resurfaced after the team played its way into the No. 11 spot in the world rankings as the No. 2 team from the Netherlands, earning an Olympic berth.
Immers said it was disappointing that the attention to the case has dominated the discussion of his Olympic debut.
“He has been playing with him many, many tournaments for many, many years — the last three years. It has never been an issue,” Van Vliet said. “I’m not judging if it should have been or not, but it has never been an issue. And now, all of a sudden, for them, it’s a surprise.”
The International Volleyball Federation has said it was powerless to stop the Dutch from sending Van de Velde to Paris after he qualified in the usual way. Van de Velde, who is not staying at the athletes village and has not been available to the media, previously said the incident was “the biggest mistake of my life.”
An IOC spokesman deferred to the Dutch and reiterated what national officials have said about extra safeguards in place.
“Not to excuse it in any way but this took place, I think, 10 years ago and I think, as a general rule I think we need to allow for the possibility of rehabilitation,” Mark Adams said at the IOC's daily news conference.
Van Vliet said the decision not to make Van de Velde available was aimed at keeping the focus on the athletic competition.
“We want to talk about sports, especially him. We are very much aware that if we bring Steven out here it won’t go about his sport and his performance," he said. “We are here to create an environment for all our athletes in which they can perform well."
Immers, who like Van Vliet spoke imperfect English, declined to comment on Van de Velde's criminal history, saying, “What is in the past is in the past.”
“I think Steven is a really good example from how he is right now,” Immers said. “I am enjoying it very much to play with him. What is in the past is in the past. He had his ... punishment and now he’s really, really kind. For me, that’s a big example that you grew. You learned a lot from it. And of course, what happened in the past, I don’t know. It’s not good, of course. But right now we’re trying to enjoy it and go for the next round."
Security for the match was no different than it was on Saturday, when the competition opened. Most of the fans' attention was focused on the crowd-pleasing antics of Italy's Adrian Carambula, whose Skyball serve spun high above the Olympic rings adorning the arena's roof.
Carambula flexed for the fans as he and Alex Ranghieri rallied from a 20-17 deficit, winning five straight points to claim the first set. The Dutch were able to close out the second on their first set point, winning 21-19.
Trailing 13-11 in the third set, Van de Velde served into the net. The Dutch closed to 14-13 but Carambula dinked one past Immers to win it.
“I don’t know if we played the best match, technical-wise, but we compensated with a lot of energy,” said Carambula, a four-time Olympian who insisted that the controversy over Van de Velde's criminal record was no part of his thoughts going into the match.
“We got the the crowd in our favor, and we wanted the victory,” he said. “So that was the key.”
Van de Velde's next match is on Wednesday, against Chile. A second loss would create a difficult — but not impossible — road to the knockout round.
