🔗 Share this article

In excess of twenty Olympic champions, trainers and additional world-class competitors have signed a statement urging a stop to the execution of a boxing titleholder and trainer, who is on death row in the country.

Increasing Worldwide Condemnation

Amid increasing international outrage over the country's increasing application of the death penalty as a instrument of repression, the forcefully phrased letter censures the Iranian regime's decision to uphold the execution order of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The boxer, thirty, from Mashhad in the northeastern region, was taken into custody for taking part in national uprisings in 2019 and indicted of backing an opposition group. He has endured five years in incarceration, where he has been abused and confined in solitary confinement.

“Sport is designed to promote hope, togetherness, and courage,” the supporters expressed. “The capital punishment of a champion for his beliefs is a clear violation on these values and a admonition to all sportspeople who attempts to speak out.

Record of Putting to Death Athletes

The letter noted that the athlete's case was not an isolated one and highlighted the country's past of executing sports champions for their beliefs, including a national team leader, leader of the football side, and a volleyball captain, leader of the women's volleyball squad. In 2020, a wrestling champion, a 27-year-old Iranian wrestling champion, was put to death.

Additional supporters to the appeal comprise Tracy Edwards, who led the pioneering women's squad in a international sailing event and was the first woman to receive a renowned yachting trophy; the previous skipper of the national squad an athlete; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the national team for the global tournament.

Detention and Unjust Proceedings

Vafaei Sani was arrested in the spring of 2020. The charges against him included “promoting decay on Earth through incendiarism and ruin of government belongings”. His verdict has been overturned on two occasions but on 4 October it was confirmed on the third occasion. His trial was denounced as “deeply biased” by advocates and groups.

Appeal to UN

The call to stop the athlete's death sentence is subsequent to a 2023 letter to the United Nations official for freedoms, backed by over 100 rights specialists and groups, demanding action to stop the athlete’s capital punishment.

Execution Crisis

According to reports, there is an “execution crisis in the nation, which has attained horrific proportions”. In 2023, officials executed at least 853 people – a 48% rise on the previous year. In the prior period, data showed nine hundred seventy-two deaths, constituting the maximum count since the year 2015. More than eight hundred people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and dissidents are victims, especially in the wake of the 2022's protests. Analysts say the government have used the executions to quell opposition, instil anxiety among the population and tighten their control on authority.