A medal at any price

Should we forgive everything for the chance to climb the steps of the Olympic podium? The Dutch beach volleyball team seems ready to do anything to win a medal, even if it means adorning the neck of an athlete convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl.

Steven van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison for raping a 12-year-old British girl in 2014 when he was 19. Ten years later, the beach volleyball player will represent the Netherlands in Paris, watched by billions of spectators.

The Dutch Olympic Committee’s decision – and the International Olympic Committee’s inaction – has sparked controversy. An online petition calling for van de Velde’s disqualification has garnered more than 45,000 signatures.

Its presence trivializes sexual violence, believes the Quebec Association of Centers for Assistance and the Fight against Sexual Assault (RQCALACS).

“As a society, but also as an institution of the Olympic Games, there is still a more structural reflection to have on what types of characters or people we want to represent our State, our country and what place we give to sexual violence,” emphasizes Justine Chénier, co-coordinator and head of communications for RQCALACS.

Canada’s Olympic team in Paris includes six beach volleyball players. The men’s duo of Daniel Dearing and Sam Schachter could face the Dutch.

Volleyball Canada said in an email that it was aware of the controversy.

“Based on the facts currently available, this is not a decision we support and it contradicts the values ​​of our sport, but it is unfortunately beyond our control. Our athletes are focused on their preparation and performance at the upcoming Games and therefore we will not be making any further comments at this time.”

The Dutch Volleyball Federation (Nevobo) has defended its decision to include Steven van de Velde in its national team, saying in a statement that the athlete’s reintegration into the organisation had been duly monitored. [Steven] has proven to be an exemplary professional and human being, and there is no reason to doubt him since his return, says Michel Everaert, CEO of Nevobo. We fully support him in his participation in Paris, which he and [Matthew Immers, son coéquipier] have deserved.”

In the same statement, the volleyball player said he was grateful for “the second chance given to me by my parents, friends, acquaintances and colleagues, who accepted me again after the biggest misstep of my young life.”

Recall of facts

The BBC reports that the athlete met the girl on Facebook. In 2014, taking advantage of the victim’s mother’s absence, he flew to the UK to meet her, raped her three times and returned home the next day.

Van de Velde was arrested and extradited to the United Kingdom in 2016. British courts sentenced him to four years in prison, one of which he would serve in England. He would later acknowledge his wrongdoing in court. “Your hopes of representing your country are nothing more than a shattered dream,” said Francis Sheridan, the judge who presided over the trial, according to the BBC. His lawyer, meanwhile, said that his crime was “clearly career-ending for him.”

Yet after serving only 13 months in prison, he was released and resumed playing volleyball.

Van de Velde’s return to top-level competition in 2017 caused a stir in the Netherlands, but his first Olympic appearance is generating international media coverage.

Faced with the influx of reactions, the athlete deactivated his Instagram page, and comments on pages affiliated with Dutch beach volleyball were restricted.

With nine days to go until the start of the Games, the Dutch Olympic Committee announced in a statement that, at van de Velde’s request, the athlete will not be staying with other athletes during the competition and will not speak to the media. The committee says the measures are intended to “ensure a safe sporting environment for all participants at the Olympic Games following the [sa] participation”.

A decision that sends a harmful message

“Once again, we are showing a huge lack of respect. [aux victimes] and we don’t understand their reality and what they’re going through,” says Sylvain Croteau, executive director of Sport’aide, an organization that offers support to people in the world of sport and fights for a healthy and safe sports environment. “For the younger ones who observe this, it sends the message that ‘cuddle, because I have an X status, I can [tout] allow me”. This is very worrying.

According to him, this decision means that the Dutch team “does not realise the responsibility that we have, as a sports organisation, to develop human beings who play sport, of course, but first we have the responsibility to develop human beings”.

“There needs to be a cultural change that needs to take place in the sports world,” says Justine Chénier. “Because yes, there is this situation, but also, if we look at the overall state of things, there is still a problem of sexual violence in the sports world, particularly in competition.”

She compares the situation with the many sexual abuse scandals that have tarnished Hockey Canada in recent years: “We’re going to focus on the athlete as an athlete instead of holding him responsible for his behavior, we’re going to erase all traces of any fault in the name of preserving the sport, preserving the organization, preserving the sponsors as well.”

Some sports scandals in Canada

Figure skating

Danish-Canadian figure skater Nikolaj Sørensen was accused of sexual assault by an American athlete in January. The investigation by the Office of the Sports Integrity Commissioner is ongoing. While the skater and his partner withdrew from a competition in January, they have since competed in two world championships under the Canadian banner, a decision strongly criticized by the complainant.

Gymnastic

In May 2022, a group of athletes filed a class action against Gymnastics Canada and provincial organizations. They accuse them of not doing enough to protect gymnasts from the culture of physical and psychological violence that reigns in the sport. The federal government also suspended funding to the organization after more than 500 athletes denounced abuse within Gymnastics Canada.

Hockey

The hockey world has been rocked by a series of sexual abuse scandals in recent years. Many have denounced a systemic problem that has allowed sexual violence and abuse to be covered up in the name of sporting success. In addition to the cases involving the 2003 and 2018 national junior teams, two QMJHL players were also found guilty of sexual assault in July 2024.

Water polo

In 2022, four former Water Polo Canada athletes filed a lawsuit against the sport organization. The players are seeking $5 million in damages caused by coaches employed by Water Polo Canada. The athletes claim the organization was negligent in the physical, emotional and psychological abuse and sexual harassment suffered by its members.

Alpine skiing

In 2019, Alpine Canada had to compensate three of the victims of former coach Bertrand Charest, who was found guilty of about 30 charges of sexual assault against 12 minors in the 1990s. The athletes sued the organization because they believed it had covered up Charest’s abuse because of its success and to keep its sponsors.