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In excess of twenty Olympic medal winners, trainers and additional international athletes have endorsed a appeal demanding a halt to the execution of a champion boxer and trainer, who is sentenced to die in Iran.

Increasing Global Anger

Amid rising international outrage over Iran’s escalating use of capital punishment as a tool of repression, the powerfully expressed appeal denounces the government's decision to maintain the death sentence of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The athlete, 30, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was arrested for participating in nationwide protests in two thousand nineteen and indicted of backing an opposition group. He has passed 60 months in prison, where he has been mistreated and held in solitary confinement.

“Sport is intended to encourage hope, solidarity, and bravery,” the supporters wrote. “The death penalty of a winner for his opinions is a blatant attack on these principles and a warning to all sportspeople who attempts to speak out.

Pattern of Putting to Death Athletes

The appeal noted that the athlete's situation was part of a pattern and underscored the country's past of putting to death sports champions for their convictions, including a national team leader, leader of the soccer squad, and a women's sports leader, leader of the female volleyball side. In 2020, a wrestling champion, a young national wrestling champion, faced the death penalty.

Further endorsers to the letter include a sailing champion, who led the first female-only team in a round-the-world competition and was the first woman to earn a esteemed sailing award; the previous captain of the Australian football team a sports advocate; and a footballer, who was in the Iranian squad for the 1978 World Cup.

Apprehension and Unfair Trial

Vafaei Sani was taken into custody in early 2020. The allegations against him included “promoting decay on Earth through incendiarism and damage of public property”. His sentence has been reversed multiple times but on 4 October it was confirmed on the latest review. His trial was denounced as “deeply biased” by rights defenders and groups.

Appeal to UN

The urging to prevent the athlete's execution comes after a 2023 statement to the United Nations official for human rights, endorsed by over a hundred rights specialists and groups, calling for action to stop the sports figure's execution.

Execution Crisis

Based on data, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the country, which has achieved shocking dimensions”. In 2023, officials sentenced at least over 850 people – a nearly half increase on the previous year. Last year, data showed nine hundred seventy-two deaths, constituting the highest number since the year 2015. In excess of 800 people have been executed so far in the current year.

Dissidents and opponents are targets, particularly in the wake of the 2022's uprising. Experts say the regime have used the death penalty to stifle opposition, instil apprehension among the public and tighten their hold on power.