DutchNews.nl - Dutch Olympic athletes face fines for being too slow at university

At least a quarter of the Dutch squad for this summer's Olympics in London may end up with a fine for taking too long to finish their college or university degrees, the Volkskrant reports on Wednesday.

Of the 180-strong team, around 50 are still studying and are likely to end up with a €3,000 fine for taking more than a year too long to graduate.

'Almost every top sportsman or women is a slow student,' Jet Bussemaker, rector of Amsterdam's hbo college, told the paper. 'I think this ruling is a direct threat to Dutch sport.'

Exception

Bussemaker, Doekle Terpstra of the InHolland college group and Marcel Winters for the Fontys hbo colleges are urging the government to make an exception for top athletes.

'We are concerned that our medal winners in London will be congratulated by the queen and the prime minister on one day and the next get a letter from the education ministry fining them for being too slow,' they said in a statement.

The Fontys college group has set up a special fund to help athletes meet the extra cost for one year. 'International training programmes can make it difficult to study at this level anyway,' Wintels told the paper.

Is the government right to encourage students to finish their degrees quickly? Have your say using the comment box below.

Readers' Comments

I simply do not believe that their federations cannot put together the money to pay the fines, if necessary.
The rule is good, too many students just park themselves at university stealing resources from the serious students. Start making exceptions for athletes will lead to making exceptions for someone else, and so on.

By joanna | 4 July 2012 7:42 AM

I just don't understand fining people for taking to long to study. Just provide student funding for a set length of time. If the student wishes to continue at a slower speed, for whatever reason, so be it. If a student wishes to change his course to another study after 2 years, then he will be aware that his funding will run out before he gets his degree. It may take longer as he will need to work to finance his study, so progress at a slower speed. Four years financing and then you are on your own, no complicated exceptions with all the extra admin costs.

By jaycee | 4 July 2012 8:22 AM

While I agree with the slow study fine in general, there must be provisions in it for this type of scenario. I think it's already impressive enough that these top level athletes can also do studies at the same time, and it's a damn shame to penalize them with a fine when they are representing the county, at the Olympics no less!

By Sedirea | 4 July 2012 11:07 AM

I don't understand why they are complaining about this. In the US NCCA athletes have scholarship 'funding' for a specific number of years, and after that they need to pay. I don't see that the US sports teams are underperforming. I understand that this can be a challenge, but it is done all the time so stop complaining or pay up.

By Jimbo | 9 July 2012 12:53 PM

The whole fine is ridiculous in the first place. I could go a whole week driving my car while drunk (up till where your license would get taken), endangering the lives of everyone I pass by for a whole week, and yet be fined less than a student having a bit of trouble with their study even if I'd get caught every day.

By Someone | 9 July 2012 7:04 PM