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In excess of twenty Olympic medallists, trainers and other global sports figures have signed a letter calling for a stop to the capital punishment of a champion boxer and coach, who is facing execution in the nation.

Increasing International Outrage

Amid increasing worldwide anger over Iran’s expanding employment of the death penalty as a tool of oppression, the forcefully phrased letter condemns the Iranian regime's ruling to confirm the death sentence of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

Vafaei Sani, three decades old, from Mashhad in the northeastern region, was detained for taking part in nationwide protests in the year 2019 and indicted of aiding an opposition group. He has passed 60 months in detention, where he has been mistreated and held in isolation.

“Sport is intended to inspire faith, togetherness, and bravery,” the signatories wrote. “The death penalty of a titleholder for his opinions is a clear violation on these values and a admonition to every athlete who ventures to voice opinions.

History of Executing Sports Figures

The letter said that the boxer's situation was not an isolated one and highlighted the nation's history of executing athletes for their beliefs, for example a football captain, captain of the soccer squad, and Fourouzan Abdi, captain of the women's volleyball squad. In 2020, Navid Afkari, a young national wrestling champion, was also executed.

Other signatories to the statement comprise a yachting pioneer, who led the pioneering all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to receive a esteemed sailing award; the ex- captain of the national squad an athlete; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the 1978 World Cup.

Detention and Unfair Trial

Vafaei Sani was taken into custody in the spring of 2020. The allegations against him comprised “spreading corruption on Earth through incendiarism and destruction of government belongings”. His ruling has been overturned twice but on October 4 it was maintained on the third attempt. His court case was denounced as “grossly unfair” by human rights activists and organizations.

Call to UN

The appeal to stop the boxer's death sentence follows a 2023 statement to the United Nations official for freedoms, endorsed by more than 100 advocates and organizations, urging measures to avert the athlete’s death.

Execution Crisis

According to reports, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the nation, which has attained horrific proportions”. In 2023, authorities sentenced at least over 850 people – a nearly half surge on 2022. The year before, records showed 972 deaths, representing the maximum count since 2015. In excess of 800 people have been executed so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and opponents are targets, particularly in the aftermath of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Specialists say the Iranian authorities have used the executions to quell protest, generate anxiety among the public and tighten their control on power.