Tue, October 28, 2025
Australia denies visa to convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde ahead of Beach Volleyball World Championships
Convicted child rapist and Dutch volleyball player Steven van de Velde, who was allowed to complete in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, has been denied an Australian visa for the upcoming Beach Volleyball World Championships.
The World Championships is set to begin in Adelaide, Australia on 14 November 2025, and van de Velde was originally included in the Dutch team. However, he has now been banned from Australia. In 2016, van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of raping a 12-year-old girl he met online in 2014, when he was 19 years old. The Dutchman only served 13 months of his sentence. He was later permitted to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, which naturally caused an uproar among spectators and the general public. He lost a quarter-final in Paris.
Following news that van de Velde would feature on the Dutch team, the South Australian government wrote to the federal government to have him banned. Attorney-General, Kyam Maher, stated: “It is my view, and that of the South Australian government, that Mr Van de Velde should not be granted a visa…
This individual's offending is utterly abhorrent, and we do not believe that foreign child sex offenders should be granted entry to this country.”
4,100 people also backed this sentiment on Change.org.
The Minister of Home Affairs in Australia, Tony Burke, voiced: “The government will continue to use every tool we have available to ensure that Australians can be safe and feel safe in their communities.”
Van de Velde made a statement: “We took into account that the combination of the policies of the Australian authorities and my past might pose a problem for obtaining a visa…
This outcome is accepted not only by me, but also by the rest of the team with whom we have been working closely throughout the year.”
The Dutch Volleyball Association Technical Director, Heleen Crielaard, stated: “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.”
Volleyball Australia Chief Executive, Andrew Dee, diverted attention away from van de Velde and placed it on Australia’s success: “It will be the biggest beach volleyball event in the world this year and the first time we will have nine Aussie teams proudly wearing the green and gold. That is what we all should now focus on and celebrate.”
Image courtesy of Heute. Full license details can be found here.
