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Over twenty Olympic medal winners, trainers and additional world-class competitors have endorsed a statement calling for a halt to the execution of a boxing champion and instructor, who is facing execution in the nation.

Growing International Outrage

During increasing worldwide anger over the nation's escalating use of capital punishment as a means of repression, the powerfully expressed statement condemns the government's decision to uphold the capital punishment of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

Vafaei Sani, 30, from the city in the northern province, was detained for taking part in countrywide demonstrations in two thousand nineteen and charged of backing an resistance movement. He has passed 60 months in prison, where he has been mistreated and confined in solitary confinement.

“Sport is designed to promote hope, togetherness, and fortitude,” the signatories stated. “The death penalty of a champion for his opinions is a blatant attack on these principles and a warning to any competitor who ventures to voice opinions.

Pattern of Executing Sports Figures

The appeal pointed out that the boxer's case was not unique and underscored the country's record of putting to death competitors for their convictions, including Habib Khabiri, leader of the soccer squad, and a women's sports leader, skipper of the women's volleyball squad. In the year 2020, Navid Afkari, a 27-year-old national wrestling champion, faced the death penalty.

Additional supporters to the statement include Tracy Edwards, who skippered the first women's squad in a international sailing event and was the pioneering lady to receive a renowned nautical honor; the former skipper of the Australian football team an athlete; and a sports figure, who was in the Iranian squad for the global tournament.

Arrest and Unfair Trial

Vafaei Sani was taken into custody in March 2020. The allegations against him included “spreading corruption on Earth through fire-setting and damage of government belongings”. His verdict has been overturned multiple times but on the fourth of October it was upheld on the third attempt. His court case was criticized as “highly unjust” by human rights activists and organizations.

Urging to International Body

The appeal to stop Vafaei Sani’s execution comes after a earlier letter to the UN high commissioner for freedoms, backed by more than one hundred advocates and organizations, calling for action to avert the sports figure's capital punishment.

Capital Punishment Escalation

As per data, there is an “death penalty surge in the nation, which has achieved horrific dimensions”. In the year 2023, the government sentenced at least 853 people – a 48% surge on 2022. The year before, data showed nine hundred seventy-two executions, representing the peak figure since two thousand fifteen. Over eight hundred people have been executed so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and opponents are targets, especially in the aftermath of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Analysts say the government have employed the executions to stifle dissent, create fear among the citizenry and strengthen their control on authority.