Steven van de Velde's teammate makes fresh plea to Olympic fans over treatment of Dutch rapist

Convicted rapist Steven van de Velde continues to be the target of boos from fans inside the arena in Paris , with the beach volleyball star representing the Netherlands at the Olympics. His partner has now stated his 'disappointment' with the fans' reactions.

In 2016, Van de Velde was convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl in Milton Keynes, when he was aged 19. He was sentenced to four years in prison, before serving just one year behind bars and being released.

Van de Velde was quickly welcomed back into beach volleyball, where he had long been seen as a prodigy within the sport - and was named to the Dutch Olympics team after qualifying earlier this summer. That decision has been heavily scrutinized, with decision-makers defending their call to add him to the roster.

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And while perhaps being put in a tough position, his teammate and doubles partner Matthew Immers has defended Van de Velde, while stating he was 'disappointed' to hear fans booing .

Immers said: "I don’t want to say much about it. What was in the past is in the past,. I can’t change his past. I’m here to play with him. We want to have good results here. There are a lot of people who support us. We do it for them. He has a lot of pressure on his shoulders. I’m OK with that. Mentally we are strong, I am strong, we will get through this together."

He added: "It is what it is. I was disappointed with the fans. We talked on the field and asked ourselves: what do we need from each other? It was worse than in the first game. We need each other on the field, the hugs, the cheering."

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After Van de Velde was selected, with the nation immediately maligned, Chef de mission Pieter van den Hoogenband defended their decision, stating: "Steven has been active in international sports and the beach volleyball world for a long time. He has played in World Cups, European Championships and World Championships, but then you see that things are different around the Games. That things are exaggerated around the Games.

"We don’t have blinkers on and we don’t close our eyes. I’m the boss, responsible for the whole team, for the athletes. He’s just a member of the team, he qualified, and that’s why he deserves our support."