Dutch journalist under fire after he hit out at ‘unsportsmanlike’ Olympics crowd for booing child rapist Steven van de Velde – and praised the convicted sex offender for ‘handling it well’
A Dutch journalist has been criticised for defending convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde, who competed in this year’s Olympic Games.
Announcer Maarten Tip, who acts as commentator for the NO Studio Sport in the Netherlands made ‘shocking’ comments during coverage of the sporting event. He lashed out at the ‘unsportsmanlike’ crowd for booing the volleyball player off the court.
“Well, 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 they just reacting to screaming headlines. It must be frustrating, it must be tough, but he’s handling it very well.”
In what appears to be an accident, with RTL He reported that Tip probably assumed he wasn’t on the radio and then accused other people of being “weak” for refusing to “get their hands dirty with this news.”
A Dutch journalist has been criticised for defending convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde (pictured), who competed in this year’s Olympic Games
Tip added: ‘You can have your own opinion about it and I respect that, but only if you know the whole story.
“These are headlines that people respond to. People don’t read the story, they don’t delve into it.”
Maarten Tip told MailOnline that he had ‘no comment’. MailOnline also asked NOS for comment.
“How terribly unprofessional,” one user wrote next to the clip circulating on X. “Simply shocking.”
They added: ‘Haha, you would expect Maarten Tip to know how to turn off a microphone.
‘Someone (I suspect it was Tip himself) is going crazy about people openly saying what they think of a convicted sex offender participating in the trial.
‘Holy crack pipe, what a disaster.’
A small majority appeared to back Tip, writing that the broadcaster is “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 shocked by Tip’s comments and condemned his “simply shocking” remarks
Tip has been a commentator for NOS since 2001. His bio on the NOS website states: ‘As a commentator, it is extra fun to be on site at major events. Capturing the atmosphere and also conveying it in the commentary, that is the basis of the profession for me.
‘The highlight so far was the 2010 Winter Olympics. I was commentator for Nicolien Sauerbreij’s ‘golden’ downhill.
‘I secretly hope to experience many more moments like this. A “golden” volleyball moment would be great too!’
Van de Velde was convicted in 2016 at the age of 19 for the rape of a 12-year-old British girl. On Sunday evening he was eliminated from the Olympic Games in Paris, when he and his partner Matthew Immers lost in three sets to Brazil.
In his fourth and final match, Van de Velde was again the target of a steady stream of jeers and whistles every time he served the ball.
On match point, with Van de Velde serving and the crowd booing him, Evandro hit the decisive strike and won 21-16, 21-16. This ended the Dutch team’s participation in the Summer Games.
The teammates hugged each other, shook hands with opponents and officials as is customary after the game, and then sat on the bench for a few minutes with their arms around each other’s shoulders.
Van de Velde was convicted in 2016 of raping a 12-year-old British girl when he was 19, and was eliminated from the Paris Olympics on Sunday night when he and partner Matthew Immers lost in three sets to Brazil.
Despite the controversy, Immers defended Van de Velde and said they would remain partners. Both pictured
Van de Velde walked away waving to the crowd, looking for the orange-clad Dutch fans who applauded and booed him.
“It was an emotional rollercoaster. That’s how I see it,” Immers said. “We fought. We enjoyed every moment. So I’m really proud of that. It was the coolest stadium I’ve ever played in. … I’m sad we couldn’t show our level. But everything around it, I enjoyed it.”
As he did during the tournament, Van de Velde did not walk through the mixed zone to talk to reporters, something normally expected of all Olympians. After all, he said his partner needed the mental rest.
“If I may speak on his behalf, we were disappointed after the game we lost,” 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, ‘Okay, let’s just enjoy this moment.’ And we did. So I’m glad we did it that way.”
Van de Velde, 29, spent 13 months in prison after being convicted of rape in England in 2016.
A judge had previously told Van de Velde that his promising career was a ‘shattered dream’ after his conviction for the horrific offence. But against all odds and public outrage, he was selected for the Paris Games squad.
Although victims, advocates, lawmakers and fans have called for him to be banned from the Olympics, the IOC has said it is powerless to stop the Netherlands from sending an athlete who qualified through the usual means. However, he did not stay with other athletes in the Olympic village after the British Olympic Association raised concerns about the issue with the IOC.
The Dutch selection committee for the Olympic Games supported Van de Velde’s inclusion in their team and previously explained that he met all the criteria to participate in the Games in the French capital.
‘Since 2018, Steven van de Velde has again participated in international beach volleyball tournaments, after an intensive and professionally supervised process,’ a spokesperson told Mail Sport.
‘Steven van de Velde now meets all the qualification criteria for the Olympic Games and is therefore part of the group of athletes who formally transferred from the Dutch national associations to the NOC on 4 July, which will then become responsible for them during the Olympic Games.’