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Over 20 Olympic medallists, coaches and other world-class competitors have put their names to a letter calling for a halt to the death penalty of a champion boxer and trainer, who is facing execution in the nation.

Growing International Outrage

Amidst increasing international outrage over the nation's increasing application of executions as a means of repression, the strongly worded statement denounces the government's decision to maintain the capital punishment of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

Vafaei Sani, three decades old, from the city in the northern province, was arrested for participating in national uprisings in 2019 and accused of aiding an opposition group. He has spent 60 months in incarceration, where he has been mistreated and confined in isolation.

“Competition is designed to promote faith, unity, and fortitude,” the endorsers expressed. “The execution of a winner for his political views is a direct assault on these values and a admonition to any competitor who attempts to express dissent.

Record of Executing Athletes

The statement said that Vafaei Sani’s circumstances was not an isolated one and underscored the country's history of sentencing to death sports champions for their beliefs, such as a national team leader, leader of the national football team, and Fourouzan Abdi, captain of the national women’s volleyball team. In the year 2020, an athlete, a 27-year-old national competitor, faced the death penalty.

Further supporters to the letter comprise Tracy Edwards, who led the pioneering all-female crew in a global yacht race and was the initial female to be awarded a esteemed nautical honor; the previous skipper of the national squad Craig Foster; and a footballer, who was in the national team for the global tournament.

Detention and Flawed Legal Process

The athlete was arrested in early 2020. The accusations against him comprised “promoting decay on Earth through arson and destruction of government belongings”. His sentence has been annulled multiple times but on the fourth of October it was confirmed on the latest review. His court case was criticized as “grossly unfair” by rights defenders and groups.

Appeal to UN

The appeal to halt the athlete's execution comes after a earlier letter to the UN high commissioner for human rights, backed by over one hundred rights specialists and entities, urging intervention to stop the competitor's capital punishment.

Capital Punishment Escalation

Based on findings, there is an “execution crisis in the nation, which has achieved alarming dimensions”. In the year 2023, officials put to death at least 853 people – a 48% rise on 2022. The year before, records showed nearly a thousand executions, representing the peak figure since two thousand fifteen. Over eight hundred people have been executed so far in 2025.

Activists and dissidents are victims, especially in the aftermath of the the year 2022 uprising. Specialists say the Iranian authorities have employed the capital punishment to quell opposition, instil anxiety among the population and reinforce their hold on power.