A Dutch journalist has come under fire for defending convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde, who competed in this year’s Olympics.
The announcer Maarten Tip, who works as a commentator for the US Dutch outlet Studio Sport made “shocking” comments during its coverage of the sporting event, criticising the “unsportsmanlike” crowd for booing the volleyball player off the court.
“But that’s happened to him more often during this tournament,” Tip continued.
“You wonder if all these people booing him here know the whole story or are just reacting to the headlines. It must be frustrating, it must be tough, but he’s coping very well.”
In what appears to be an accident, with Right-right reporting that Tip likely assumed he was off the air, then accused other people of being “weak” for refusing to “get their hands dirty with this.”
A Dutch journalist has come under fire for defending convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde (pictured), who competed in this year’s Olympics.
Additional advice: ‘You can have whatever opinion you want on this, and I respect that, but only if you know the full story.
“They are newspaper headlines that people respond to. People don’t read the story, they don’t delve into it.”
Maarten Tip has told MailOnline he has no comment. MailOnline has also contacted NOS for comment.
“How horribly unprofessional,” wrote one user in response to the clip circulating on X. “Simply shocking.”
They added: ‘Haha, you’d expect Maarten Tip to know how to turn off a microphone.
‘Someone is going crazy (I suspect Tip himself) over people making it clear what they think about a convicted sex offender participating in SO.
‘Holy heavens, what a mess.’
A slim majority appeared to support Tip, writing that the broadcaster was “100% right.”
Broadcaster Maarten Tip (pictured in 2021), who works as a commentator for NOS Studio Sport in the Netherlands, made “shocking” comments during coverage of the sporting event.
Social media users appeared horrified by Tip’s comments and slammed his remarks as “simply shocking.”
Tip has been a commentator for NOS since 2001. His bio on the outlet’s website reads: “As a commentator, it’s especially great to be on the scene at big events. Capturing the atmosphere and also conveying it in commentary – that’s the foundation of the profession for me.
‘The highlight so far was the 2010 Winter Olympics. I was a commentator on Nicolien Sauerbreij’s “golden” downhill.
“I secretly hope to experience many more moments like this. A ‘golden’ moment in volleyball would also be wonderful!”
Van de Velde was convicted of raping a 12-year-old British girl when he was 19 in 2016, and was eliminated from the Paris Olympics on Sunday night when he and partner Matthew Immers lost to Brazil in straight sets.
In his fourth and final match, Van de Velde was once again subjected to a constant stream of boos and whistles every time he brought the ball out.
On match point, with Van de Velde serving and the crowd booing, Evandro unleashed the winner to win 21-16, 21-16 and end the Dutch team’s stay at the Summer Games.
The teammates hugged, did the usual post-match handshake with opponents and referees and then sat on the bench for a few minutes with one arm around the other’s shoulder.
Van de Velde was found guilty of raping a 12-year-old British girl when he was 19 in 2016, and was eliminated from the Paris Olympics on Sunday night when he and partner Matthew Immers lost to Brazil in straight sets.
Despite the controversy, Immers defended Van de Velde and said they would remain partners. Both in the photo
Van de Velde walked away waving to the crowd, looking out for the orange-clad Dutch fans who were applauding among the others who were booing him.
“It was a rollercoaster of emotions. I look at it like that,” Immers said. “We fought. We enjoyed every moment. So I’m very proud of that. It was the coolest stadium I’ve ever played in. … I’m sad that we couldn’t show our level. But I enjoyed everything that happened around it.”
As he has done throughout the tournament, Van de Velde did not stop by the mixed zone to speak to reporters, something normally required of all Olympians. Immers said his teammate needed a mental rest.
“If I can speak for him, after the game we lost, we were disappointed,” Immers said. “But we said to each other, ‘Look what we did together. Look how hard we fought with all the attention.'”
“We stuck together. We cried together off the field and said, ‘OK, let’s enjoy this moment.’ And we did. So I’m happy we did it that way.”
Van de Velde, 29, served 13 months in prison following his 2016 rape conviction in England.
Van de Velde was previously told by a judge that his promising career was a “dream shattered” following his conviction for the heinous offence, but against all odds and public outcry, he was included in the team for the Paris Games.
Although victims’ advocates, lawmakers and fans have called for him to be banned from the Olympics, the IOC has said it has no power to stop the Netherlands from sending an athlete who qualified in the usual way. However, he did not stay with other athletes in the Olympic Village after the British Olympic Association raised concerns about the matter with the IOC.
Dutch Olympic selectors have backed Van de Velde’s inclusion in their team, saying earlier that she had met all the necessary criteria to appear at the Games in the French capital.
“Since 2018, Steven van de Velde has returned to participating in international beach volleyball tournaments following an intensive and professionally supervised path,” a spokesperson told Mail Sport.
‘Meanwhile, Steven van de Velde has fulfilled all the qualification criteria for the Olympic Games and is therefore included in the group of athletes who were formally handed over on 4 July from the Dutch national federations to the NOC, which then becomes responsible for them during the Olympic Games.’