Olympian Convicted Of Child Rape Is Denied Visa For World Championships
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Dutch Olympian Steven van de VeldeA man convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl in Britain in 2016 has been refused a visa to participate in the World Beach Volleyball Championships in Australia, the government said on Tuesday.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke claimed that the 31-year-old player’s criminal record was the reason why he was refused a visa to participate in the tournament, which starts in Adelaide on November 14.
“The government will continue to use every tool at our disposal to ensure Australians are safe and feel safe in their communities,” Burke said in a statement.
Van de Velde said in his statement that he foresees that the Australian government’s policy and criminal history may cause problems in obtaining a visa.
“This result was accepted not only by me, but also by the rest of the team,” Van de Velde said in Dutch.
Van de Velde’s ban also means his teammate Alexander Brouwer will not race. Van de Velde did this Olympic start in Paris despite advocates for sex crime victims, lawmakers and fans calling for it to be banned last year. The International Olympic Committee said it was powerless to prevent the Netherlands from sending an athlete who qualified as usual.
He and Olympic teammate Matthew Immers won only one of their four matches during the games. Two weeks after the Olympics, van de Velde and Immers won bronze medals at the 2024 European Beach Volleyball Championships in the Netherlands.
Volleyball Australia chief executive Andrew Dee said he was only told of the government’s decision to ban van de Velde on Tuesday.
“As the local organizing committee, we remain focused on ensuring we deliver a great world championship,” Dee said.
“This will be the biggest beach volleyball event in the world this year and for the first time nine of our Australian teams will proudly wear the green and gold. That’s what we should all be focusing on and celebrating now,” he added.
Van de Velde was 19 when he contacted his victim on social media in 2014 and traveled to England to rape her. He was found guilty of three counts of rape and spent 13 months of his four-year sentence in prison before resuming his sports career in 2018.
Australia has long exercised wide discretion in denying temporary visas to foreigners under what is known as a “character test”.
Two weeks ago Australia’s high court rejected US conservative commentator Candace Owens He proposed lifting the visa ban last year while planning a speaking tour in the country. Burke said it was banned because of the risk of “inciting discord in the Australian community”.
Burke robbed US rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye WestHe received an Australian visa after releasing his single “Heil Hitler” in May this year. You’ve been traveling to Australia for years, where his wife of three years is. Bianca Censoriwas born.
