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Over twenty Olympic champions, coaches and other global sports figures have endorsed a appeal demanding a stop to the capital punishment of a boxing champion and trainer, who is sentenced to die in the country.

Escalating Global Anger

Amidst increasing global condemnation over the country's escalating use of the death penalty as a tool of suppression, the powerfully expressed appeal denounces the authorities's decision to uphold the death sentence of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

Vafaei Sani, three decades old, from the city in the northern province, was taken into custody for taking part in countrywide demonstrations in the year 2019 and accused of backing an resistance movement. He has endured half a decade in incarceration, where he has been tortured and kept in solitary confinement.

“Competition is designed to encourage faith, togetherness, and courage,” the endorsers stated. “The capital punishment of a champion for his opinions is a clear violation on these values and a warning to every athlete who dares to speak out.

History of Killing Competitors

The appeal noted that the boxer's circumstances was part of a pattern and emphasized Iran’s record of putting to death sports champions for their beliefs, including a football captain, captain of the football side, and Fourouzan Abdi, captain of the women's volleyball squad. In the year 2020, a wrestling champion, a 27-year-old national competitor, was also executed.

Further endorsers to the appeal include a sailing champion, who captained the inaugural women's squad in a round-the-world competition and was the pioneering lady to receive a prestigious yachting trophy; the previous leader of the Australian football team an athlete; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the country's selection for the 1978 World Cup.

Arrest and Unfair Trial

The athlete was taken into custody in March 2020. The accusations against him included “spreading corruption on Earth through arson and ruin of state assets”. His ruling has been reversed on two occasions but on 4 October it was maintained on the third attempt. His legal proceedings was condemned as “grossly unfair” by human rights activists and bodies.

Appeal to International Body

The call to stop the boxer's capital punishment comes after a previous statement to the global human rights chief for human rights, backed by over 100 human rights experts and entities, demanding measures to stop the competitor's execution.

Death Penalty Surge

Based on data, there is an “execution crisis in the country, which has attained horrific dimensions”. In the year 2023, authorities sentenced at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a nearly half rise on 2022. Last year, statistics showed nearly a thousand deaths, marking the peak figure since two thousand fifteen. More than hundreds of people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and opponents are focus, especially in the aftermath of the the year 2022 uprising. Experts say the regime have used the executions to stifle opposition, instil anxiety among the population and strengthen their control on authority.