Paris Olympics: IOC faces backlash for allowing Steven van de Velde to compete despite child abuse charges

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is set to face a huge backlash after allowingDutch beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde, who wasconvicted of child rape in 2016, to compete at the Paris Summer Games. According to reports, public unions are threatening to call an investigation against the IOC for allowing the athlete to compete despite having a controversial background.

IOC faces backlash

Ciara Bergman, the CEO of Rape Crisis England & Wales said the “irresponsible” inclusion of Van de Velde at the Olympics created an “enormous sense of impunity”, adding: “If you can rape a child and still compete in the Olympics, despite all athletes signing a declaration promising to be a role model, that is just shocking,” she said.

According to Bergman, the IOC needs to first investigate the Dutch sporting authority for allowing the volleyball player to compete. Van de Velde, who is now 29, was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 after he pledguilty to raping a12-year-old British girl. He had flown to England to meet her in 2014 with full knowledge of her age, having met her on Facebook.

After pleading guilty to charges, Van de Velde served 12 months in a British prison, before being transferred to his home country where he was released after amonth. He has since gone on to play internationally for the Netherlands.

However, that has not stopped the people’s group from protesting against the Dutch playerwho will be seen donning his country’s colours whenthe Paris Olympic Games kick off on Friday (July 26).

On Wednesday, Charlotte Dujardin, one of the greatest equestrian athletes from Great Britain had to withdraw from the Paris Games after the Federation of Equestrian Federations (FEI) obtained video of horse abuse and started investigations.