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Over two dozen Olympic medal winners, mentors and further international athletes have signed a letter calling for a end to the capital punishment of a champion boxer and instructor, who is on death row in the nation.

Increasing Worldwide Condemnation

Amid rising worldwide anger over Iran’s increasing application of executions as a means of repression, the strongly worded statement denounces the Iranian regime's ruling to confirm the capital punishment of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

Vafaei Sani, thirty, from the city in north-east Iran, was detained for taking part in nationwide protests in 2019 and indicted of aiding an resistance movement. He has spent half a decade in prison, where he has been mistreated and confined in solitary confinement.

“Sport is meant to encourage faith, togetherness, and bravery,” the endorsers stated. “The death penalty of a winner for his political views is a clear violation on these values and a warning to all sportspeople who dares to speak out.

Record of Killing Athletes

The letter said that Vafaei Sani’s circumstances was part of a pattern and underscored the country's record of putting to death athletes for their convictions, including a national team leader, skipper of the national football team, and a women's sports leader, leader of the female volleyball side. In two thousand twenty, Navid Afkari, a 27-year-old national wrestling champion, was put to death.

Other supporters to the appeal comprise a yachting pioneer, who captained the inaugural women's squad in a global yacht race and was the pioneering lady to earn a renowned yachting trophy; the ex- leader of the Australian football team an athlete; and a sports figure, who was in the country's selection for the 1978 World Cup.

Detention and Flawed Legal Process

The athlete was detained in early 2020. The allegations against him included “promoting decay on Earth through arson and destruction of state assets”. His ruling has been annulled multiple times but on October 4 it was maintained on the third attempt. His legal proceedings was denounced as “grossly unfair” by rights defenders and groups.

Appeal to UN

The call to halt Vafaei Sani’s execution comes after a earlier letter to the global human rights chief for rights, backed by more than a hundred human rights experts and groups, demanding action to prevent the competitor's execution.

Death Penalty Surge

Based on data, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the country, which has attained shocking dimensions”. In 2023, the government executed at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a 48% rise on 2022. The year before, data showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, marking the peak figure since the year 2015. Over 800 people have been put to death so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and dissidents are victims, notably in the wake of the 2022 protests. Specialists say the Iranian authorities have employed the executions to stifle opposition, instil fear among the public and reinforce their control on power.