Dutch beach volleyball player and convicted rapist Steven van de Velde has been denied a visa by Australia to compete at the world championships.
The 31-year-old had been selected to attend the Beach Volleyball World Championships in Adelaide, South Australia next month.
In 2016 he was sentenced to four years in prison in Britain after he was convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl in Milton Keynes. He had met the girl on Facebook before travelling from Amsterdam to meet her in 2014 and raping her at her home. He was 19 at the time of the offence.
Van de Velde returned to the Netherlands but was extradited to the UK in 2016, when he pleaded guilty to three counts of child rape. He served 13 months of his four-year sentence before returning to professional sport, making the national team and competing at the Paris Olympics last year. His participation at the Olympics was widely criticised and drew booing and jeers from sections of the crowd.
There had been widespread opposition to his participation in next month’s world championships, with South Australia's Attorney-General Kyam Maher writing to the federal government to demand his visa be rejected. He wrote: “We do not believe that foreign child sex offenders should be granted entry to this country”.
An online petition calling for Van de Velde to be denied a visa garnered more than 4,000 signatures.
The Dutch volleyball association (Nevobo) said said both Van de Velde and his doubles partner Alexander Brouwer would not participate in the world championships, which start on November 14.
“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,” technical director Heleen Crielaard said in a statement.
Australia's Department of Home Affairs, which handles visa issuance, did not provide immediate comment when contacted by Reuters on Tuesday.
Van de Velde, twice a bronze medallist at the European championships, said in the Nevobo statement: “We took into account that the combination of the Australian authorities' policy and my past might pose a problem for obtaining a visa.”
Brouwer posted on social media that his season was now over.
“Got the news this morning - no visa means no Australia,” he wrote. “Would’ve loved to compete with Steven in my 7th World Championships, but it is what it is.”
Includes reporting from Reuters
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