Thousands of people are rallying around a petition on change.org. Petitioner Lauren Muir wrote: "I am calling on the International Olympic Committee to ban Steven Van de Velde from the next Olympic Games because he is a convicted child rapist.

"He tricked a 12-year-old girl on Facebook into meeting him so he could rape her. He was sentenced to four years in prison, but only served 12 months, while an innocent girl has to live with severe trauma for the rest of her life."

"Van De Velde's sordid past should not be swept under the carpet, nor should it be a symbol of success at an event as prestigious as the Olympic Games. This is not just about one person, it is about the global image of the Olympic Games and the kind of society we want to live in," she concluded.

The Dutch Volleyball Federation and the Dutch Olympic organisers defend van de Velde. "We know Steven's story. Before he expressed his wish to return to beach volleyball at the time, we talked to him extensively, but also with the NOC*NSF (Dutch Olympic Committee*Dutch Sports Federation), among others," Michel Everaert, general director of Nevobo, said in a statement.

"At the time, he was convicted under English law and served his sentence," Everaert continued. "Since then we have been in constant contact with Steven, who is now fully reintegrated into the Dutch volleyball community. He is proving to be an exemplary professional and human being and there has been no reason to doubt him since his return. We fully support him and his participation in Paris, which he and Matthew have earned.”

The Dutch Olympic Committee*Dutch Sports Federation also backed the athlete, who has been competing in international tournaments again since 2017. The NOC*NSF referred to the existing guidelines that allow Dutch athletes to return to elite sport after a conviction. "Van de Velde now meets all the qualification requirements for the Olympic Games and is therefore part of the team," the organisation said.

Sara Alaoui, founder and director of the Safe Space Club in Amsterdam, told the New York Times that van de Velde's participation suggests that "if you are a white Adonis, you have less to answer for". "I don't understand that this is how we handle this in the Netherlands post-MeToo," she told the paper. "We're talking about child abuse."

For the Survivors Trust, a British organisation that supports victims of sex crimes, it is further evidence of the "shocking tolerance we have for child sexual abuse". They told Sky News that "his lack of remorse and empathy for the victim is appalling and to allow his peers and the Olympic Committee to promote him to a young audience as an athlete to look up to is deeply disturbing".

Ju'Riese Colon, CEO of the US Center for SafeSport, also told CNN that he was "deeply concerned that someone convicted of sexually assaulting a minor will be allowed to compete in the 2024 Olympics. Which will include many underage athletes. "Participation in sport is a privilege, not a right," she said.

US-British lawyer Ann Olivarius, who specialises in sexual harassment and abuse, told Platform X: "What's a little child rape if you're really, really good at sport? I would like to know how the Dutch federation can think that Steven van de Velde fulfils the seventh requirement for Olympic athletes. The lack of remorse, his insistence that he cannot be blamed, worries me deeply. It is a classic paedophile argument."