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More than two dozen Olympic medallists, trainers and additional global sports figures have endorsed a appeal calling for a stop to the execution of a boxing titleholder and coach, who is on death row in the nation.

Growing Global Anger

Amid rising international outrage over the nation's expanding employment of executions as a instrument of repression, the forcefully phrased statement denounces the authorities's ruling to uphold 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 charged of backing an opposition group. He has passed half a decade in detention, where he has been abused and kept in isolation.

“Sport is designed to encourage faith, unity, and fortitude,” the endorsers wrote. “The execution of a winner for his political views is a blatant attack on these principles and a admonition to every athlete who ventures to speak out.

Pattern of Executing Athletes

The appeal pointed out that the boxer's case was part of a pattern and emphasized Iran’s history of executing competitors for their convictions, such as a national team leader, captain of the football side, and Fourouzan Abdi, skipper of the women's volleyball squad. In two thousand twenty, an athlete, a 27-year-old national competitor, was also executed.

Other signatories to the letter include Tracy Edwards, who skippered the pioneering women's squad in a international sailing event and was the first woman to receive a renowned yachting trophy; the previous skipper of the Australian football team an athlete; and a footballer, who was in the country's selection for the international competition.

Detention and Unjust Proceedings

The athlete was detained in the spring of 2020. The accusations against him included “causing deterioration on Earth through fire-setting and destruction of state assets”. His sentence has been overturned multiple times but on the fourth of October it was maintained on the latest review. His court case was condemned as “deeply biased” by rights defenders and bodies.

Call to International Body

The appeal to halt the boxer's death sentence follows a earlier letter to the UN high commissioner for human rights, endorsed by in excess of one hundred advocates and groups, calling for action to stop the competitor's death.

Execution Crisis

According to data, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the country, which has achieved shocking levels”. In 2023, the government put to death at least 853 people – a forty-eight percent surge on 2022. The year before, data showed nearly a thousand deaths, constituting the peak figure since the year 2015. More than 800 people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Dissidents and dissidents are victims, especially in the wake of the 2022's protests. Experts say the regime have utilized the death penalty to suppress protest, generate fear among the population and tighten their control on rule.