🔗 Share this article

More than two dozen Olympic champions, trainers and further world-class competitors have put their names to a statement calling for a halt to the execution of a boxing titleholder and instructor, who is on death row in the country.

Escalating International Outrage

During rising worldwide anger over the nation's expanding employment of executions as a instrument of repression, the strongly worded letter denounces the authorities's ruling to uphold the execution order of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

Vafaei Sani, 30, from the city in north-east Iran, was arrested for participating in nationwide protests in 2019 and charged of backing an dissident organization. He has endured five years in incarceration, where he has been tortured and confined in seclusion.

“Sport is meant to promote hope, unity, and courage,” the signatories expressed. “The capital punishment of a champion for his political views is a direct assault on these ideals and a warning to all sportspeople who ventures to speak out.

History of Executing Athletes

The appeal pointed out that Vafaei Sani’s situation was not unique and emphasized the country's record of executing competitors for their beliefs, such as a football captain, captain of the football side, and a women's sports leader, captain of the women's volleyball squad. In the year 2020, a wrestling champion, a 27-year-old national competitor, was put to death.

Further signatories to the letter consist of Tracy Edwards, who captained the first female-only team in a round-the-world competition and was the first woman to be awarded a esteemed yachting trophy; the former leader of the Australian football team Craig Foster; and a footballer, who was in the national team for the international competition.

Arrest and Unfair Trial

The athlete was taken into custody in March 2020. The accusations against him entailed “promoting decay on Earth through fire-setting and destruction of government belongings”. His ruling has been overturned on two occasions but on October 4 it was confirmed on the third attempt. His legal proceedings was condemned as “deeply biased” by advocates and organizations.

Appeal to United Nations

The call to halt Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment comes after a previous statement to the global human rights chief for freedoms, endorsed by more than one hundred advocates and organizations, urging intervention to avert the competitor's execution.

Death Penalty Surge

According to reports, there is an “death penalty surge in the nation, which has reached horrific dimensions”. In 2023, authorities executed at least over 850 people – a forty-eight percent increase on 2022. Last year, statistics showed nine hundred seventy-two capital punishments, representing the peak figure since the year 2015. Over eight hundred people have been executed so far in 2025.

Activists and dissidents are focus, especially in the aftermath of the 2022 demonstrations. Analysts say the government have employed the executions to suppress opposition, create fear among the public and strengthen their hold on power.