🔗 Share this article

More than 20 Olympic medallists, trainers and other international athletes have put their names to a appeal demanding a end to the capital punishment of a boxing champion and instructor, who is sentenced to die in Iran.

Escalating International Outrage

Amidst growing international outrage over the country's escalating use of executions as a tool of suppression, the strongly worded appeal denounces the government's verdict to confirm the death sentence of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The athlete, 30, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was taken into custody for taking part in nationwide protests in two thousand nineteen and accused of aiding an resistance movement. He has passed 60 months in prison, where he has been tortured and held in isolation.

“Sport is meant to inspire faith, unity, and bravery,” the supporters stated. “The death penalty of a titleholder for his political views is a blatant attack on these ideals and a warning to every athlete who ventures to speak out.

Pattern of Executing Competitors

The statement pointed out that Vafaei Sani’s case was not an isolated one and highlighted the nation's past of executing sports champions for their views, for example Habib Khabiri, skipper of the national football team, and a volleyball captain, skipper of the female volleyball side. In two thousand twenty, an athlete, a 27-year-old Iranian competitor, faced the death penalty.

Further supporters to the statement include a sailing champion, who led the pioneering all-female crew in a global yacht race and was the initial female to receive a prestigious nautical honor; the previous captain of the Australian football team a sports advocate; and a footballer, who was in the Iranian squad for the international competition.

Arrest and Unjust Proceedings

Vafaei Sani was detained in early 2020. The accusations against him comprised “causing deterioration on Earth through fire-setting and damage of public property”. His verdict has been overturned twice but on 4 October it was confirmed on the third occasion. His legal proceedings was criticized as “deeply biased” by human rights activists and bodies.

Urging to International Body

The urging to prevent the athlete's death sentence is subsequent to a earlier letter to the UN high commissioner for rights, signed by over a hundred human rights experts and organizations, calling for action to prevent the sports figure's capital punishment.

Death Penalty Surge

Based on data, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the country, which has achieved alarming proportions”. In the year 2023, officials executed at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a forty-eight percent surge on the previous year. In the prior period, statistics showed nearly a thousand executions, constituting the highest number since two thousand fifteen. More than hundreds of people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and dissidents are focus, particularly in the aftermath of the 2022's demonstrations. Specialists say the Iranian authorities have used the capital punishment to suppress dissent, create apprehension among the population and tighten their grip on authority.