🔗 Share this article

Over 20 Olympic medal winners, trainers and further world-class competitors have put their names to a letter urging a halt to the capital punishment of a boxing champion and coach, who is sentenced to die in the nation.

Growing International Outrage

Amid growing global condemnation over the country's increasing application of the death penalty as a tool of suppression, the forcefully phrased statement denounces the Iranian regime's verdict to maintain the death sentence of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The boxer, 30, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was arrested for participating in countrywide demonstrations in 2019 and charged of aiding an resistance movement. He has spent 60 months in prison, where he has been tortured and confined in seclusion.

“Competition is intended to inspire hope, solidarity, and fortitude,” the supporters stated. “The capital punishment of a champion for his beliefs is a direct assault on these ideals and a caution to any competitor who dares to express dissent.

Record of Executing Athletes

The statement said that the athlete's situation was part of a pattern and underscored Iran’s history of executing athletes for their views, for example Habib Khabiri, skipper of the football side, and Fourouzan Abdi, leader of the female volleyball side. In the year 2020, an athlete, a young national competitor, was put to death.

Further signatories to the appeal comprise Tracy Edwards, who skippered the pioneering all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the first woman to receive a esteemed nautical honor; the ex- leader of the Australian football team a sports advocate; and a sports figure, who was in the country's selection for the 1978 World Cup.

Apprehension and Unjust Proceedings

The boxer was taken into custody in early 2020. The charges against him included “causing deterioration on Earth through arson and ruin of public property”. His ruling has been annulled multiple times but on the fourth of October it was confirmed on the third occasion. His trial was criticized as “highly unjust” by human rights activists and bodies.

Appeal to UN

The appeal to halt the boxer's execution comes after a 2023 appeal to the UN high commissioner for rights, signed by in excess of a hundred advocates and organizations, demanding intervention to prevent the sports figure's death.

Death Penalty Surge

According to findings, there is an “death penalty surge in the nation, which has reached shocking proportions”. In the year 2023, officials executed at least over 850 people – a forty-eight percent increase on 2022. The year before, data showed 972 deaths, marking the peak figure since the year 2015. Over eight hundred people have been put to death so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and protesters are focus, notably in the wake of the the year 2022 uprising. Specialists say the Iranian authorities have utilized the capital punishment to quell protest, instil apprehension among the public and strengthen their grip on power.