Olympic beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde has been blocked from entering Australia to compete in the world championships in Adelaide next month.
The Dutch athlete, now 31, pleaded guilty to assaulting a 12-year-old British girl he had been communicating with on social media when he was 19.
He was jailed for four years over the 2014 attack but only served 13 months and relaunched his career in 2017.
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Permitted to take part in the Paris Olympics last year, he was booked in accommodation away from the village and booed during his matches.
News of his bid to compete in Australia emerged earlier this month and sparked calls from victim advocate groups for his visa application to be denied.
The South Australian state government then revealed it had intervened, writing to the federal government to express its deep concern.
“This individual’s offending is utterly abhorrent and we do not believe that foreign sex offenders should be granted entry to this country,” attorney general Kyam Maher wrote to federal home affairs minister Tony Burke.
The Dutch Volleyball Association (DVA) confirmed overnight van de Velde had been blocked from entering Australia, with the athlete accepting the decision in a statement.
“We took into account that the combination of the Australian authorities’ policy and my past might pose a problem for obtaining a visa,” van de Velde said.
“This outcome is not only accepted by me, but also by the rest of the team with whom we work closely all year.”
DVA technical director Heleen Crielaard said they were “aware that this could happen”.
“We have included all the documents requested by the Australian authorities for this application and substantiated why we believe he should be able to play the World Cup in Australia,” Crielaard said.
“Unfortunately, we have now been informed that the decision has been made not to grant the visa. We regret this, but we have no choice but to accept the decision.”
The Netherlands will not compete in the world championships as a result, sidelining van de Velde’s teammate Alexander Brouwer.
Prior to the visa decision Volleyball Australia said eligibility in the tournament is determined by the International Volleyball Federation’s qualification system and all athletes would need to satisfy the visa requirements outlined by the home affairs department.
Steven van de Velde has been banned from Australia. Credit: Getty
Olympic great Anna Meares put Australia at the forefront of the global backlash against van de Velde at the Paris Olympics when the chef de mission addressed the topic ahead of the volleyball event.
“It’s not in our position to comment on other NOCs (national Olympic committees) and their policies that they have in place,” Meares said at the time.
“But what we can comment on is the policies that we have in place with the Australian Olympic team. And if an athlete or a staff member had that conviction, they wouldn’t be allowed to be a member of our team.
“We have very stringent policies around the safeguarding within our team.
“We have full confidences in those policies and the training that we’ve put our staff and athletes through to have awareness.
“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.”
Steven van de Velde competing for the Netherlands. Credit: BSR Agency/Getty Images
Van de Velde later told Dutch media he had considered quitting the Olympics as the pressure mounted.
He had met his victim on Facebook and travelled from his homeland to England to meet with the girl at her home.
A Dutch court heard he was aware of her age following their conversations on social media.
“You were a potential Olympian. You had the possibility of a stellar future representing the Netherlands,” the judge said during sentencing in 2016.
“She was a child aged 12. You were fully aware of that fact.”
In 2018, the athlete described the rape as the “biggest mistake of my life”.
“I did what I did. I can’t take it back, so I will have to carry the consequences,” he told Dutch public service broadcaster NOS.
“You can judge, of course. It is the biggest mistake of my life.”
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