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Over 20 Olympic medallists, trainers and further world-class competitors have put their names to a statement demanding a halt to the capital punishment of a boxing titleholder and instructor, who is on death row in the country.

Escalating International Outrage

Amidst increasing international outrage over the nation's increasing application of the death penalty as a tool of repression, the forcefully phrased statement denounces the Iranian regime's ruling to maintain the execution order of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The athlete, thirty, from Mashhad in the northern province, was taken into custody for participating in countrywide demonstrations in two thousand nineteen and charged of supporting an dissident organization. He has passed half a decade in prison, where he has been mistreated and held in seclusion.

“Competition is designed to inspire hope, solidarity, and bravery,” the supporters wrote. “The death penalty of a champion for his political views is a direct assault on these principles and a admonition to every athlete who attempts to express dissent.

History of Putting to Death Sports Figures

The statement said that the athlete's case was not unique and highlighted the nation's past of sentencing to death sports champions for their views, for example Habib Khabiri, skipper of the soccer squad, and a women's sports leader, skipper of the women's volleyball squad. In the year 2020, an athlete, a young Iranian sports titleholder, was put to death.

Further supporters to the appeal include a sailing champion, who led the pioneering female-only team in a international sailing event and was the first woman to be awarded a prestigious nautical honor; the previous skipper of the Australian football team Craig Foster; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the international competition.

Detention and Flawed Legal Process

The boxer was taken into custody in March 2020. The charges against him included “spreading corruption on Earth through fire-setting and ruin of public property”. His sentence has been reversed twice but on the fourth of October it was maintained on the third attempt. His court case was condemned as “grossly unfair” by rights defenders and bodies.

Appeal to UN

The appeal to halt the athlete's death sentence comes after a 2023 appeal to the global human rights chief for freedoms, signed by more than a hundred advocates and organizations, demanding intervention to avert the competitor's capital punishment.

Death Penalty Surge

As per reports, there is an “death penalty surge in the country, which has reached shocking proportions”. In two thousand twenty-three, the government sentenced at least 853 people – a forty-eight percent increase on the previous year. In the prior period, data showed 972 capital punishments, constituting the maximum count since 2015. Over 800 people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Dissidents and dissidents are victims, notably in the aftermath of the 2022 protests. Analysts say the Iranian authorities have used the death penalty to stifle dissent, create fear among the population and reinforce their control on power.