Thousands of people across the globe have been horrified and disgusted by the inclusion of convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde in the Dutch Olympic volleyball team.

Today, ex-athlete and Olympian Paula Radcliffe backed van de Velde’s inclusion and wished him the best of luck, suggesting that as he learned his lesson he shouldn’t be punished twice and it was a long time ago. Astonishingly, she equated his vile crime with drug-taking in sport and thinks everyone should get a second chance.

Ms Radcliffe is either unaware or being wilfully obtuse about the impact of sexual abuse, the fact that paedophiles cannot change and the disgraceful message this sends to victims, their families and the world. 

I am sickened by her words and her inclusion in the BBC commentary team is now untenable. Her disregard for van de Velde’s victim and minimising of child rape mean she should not be given a voice on a public platform. 

I therefore call for the BBC to remove Paula Radcliffe from its commentary team. We only have a couple of days - PLEASE sign this and use your voice to tell the BBC this is unacceptable.