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In excess of two dozen Olympic medal winners, coaches and other international athletes have endorsed a letter demanding a stop to the death penalty of a champion boxer and instructor, who is sentenced to die in Iran.

Growing International Outrage

During increasing worldwide anger over the country's increasing application of capital punishment as a tool of suppression, the forcefully phrased appeal condemns the government's verdict to uphold the execution order of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The boxer, thirty, from the city in north-east Iran, was taken into custody for participating in national uprisings in 2019 and accused of supporting an resistance movement. He has passed 60 months in prison, where he has been mistreated and held in seclusion.

“Competition is meant to encourage optimism, unity, and bravery,” the endorsers wrote. “The execution of a titleholder for his political views is a direct assault on these values and a caution to every athlete who attempts to voice opinions.

History of Executing Sports Figures

The statement noted that Vafaei Sani’s case was not unique and highlighted the country's past of executing sports champions for their convictions, for example a football captain, captain of the national football team, and a women's sports leader, captain of the national women’s volleyball team. In the year 2020, Navid Afkari, a 27-year-old national sports titleholder, was also executed.

Other supporters to the statement include a yachting pioneer, who captained the pioneering female-only team in a global yacht race and was the initial female to earn a renowned sailing award; the previous skipper of the soccer side an athlete; and a sports figure, who was in the national team for the 1978 World Cup.

Apprehension and Unfair Trial

The athlete was detained in March 2020. The allegations against him entailed “causing deterioration on Earth through arson and destruction of state assets”. His sentence has been annulled twice but on October 4 it was upheld on the latest review. His legal proceedings was condemned as “deeply biased” by human rights activists and bodies.

Urging to UN

The urging to prevent the boxer's death sentence comes after a 2023 letter to the UN high commissioner for human rights, endorsed by over 100 human rights experts and groups, calling for intervention to prevent the athlete’s death.

Death Penalty Surge

According to reports, there is an “execution crisis in the country, which has reached alarming dimensions”. In the year 2023, authorities executed at least 853 people – a nearly half rise on 2022. Last year, statistics showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, representing the highest number since the year 2015. More than 800 people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Activists and protesters are targets, especially in the wake of the 2022 uprising. Specialists say the regime have employed the capital punishment to suppress opposition, generate fear among the public and reinforce their control on rule.