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Over two dozen Olympic medallists, mentors and additional global sports figures have put their names to a appeal calling for a end to the execution of a champion boxer and trainer, who is sentenced to die in Iran.

Increasing International Outrage

During increasing global condemnation over Iran’s escalating use of capital punishment as a means of suppression, the forcefully phrased statement denounces the Iranian regime's decision to confirm the death sentence of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

Vafaei Sani, thirty, from Mashhad in the northeastern region, was taken into custody for being involved in nationwide protests in 2019 and accused of backing an opposition group. He has passed 60 months in detention, where he has been mistreated and held in solitary confinement.

“Athletics is intended to inspire optimism, unity, and courage,” the supporters stated. “The execution of a winner for his political views is a direct assault on these principles and a admonition to every athlete who attempts to voice opinions.

Record of Executing Sports Figures

The appeal said that Vafaei Sani’s case was part of a pattern and emphasized the country's record of putting to death competitors for their convictions, including a national team leader, skipper of the football side, and a volleyball captain, captain of the women's volleyball squad. In 2020, Navid Afkari, a 27-year-old Iranian wrestling champion, faced the death penalty.

Additional endorsers to the appeal consist of a yachting pioneer, who skippered the first women's squad in a round-the-world competition and was the pioneering lady to receive a esteemed yachting trophy; the previous leader of the Australian football team a sports advocate; and a sports figure, who was in the country's selection for the 1978 World Cup.

Arrest and Unjust Proceedings

The athlete was arrested in the spring of 2020. The accusations against him comprised “promoting decay on Earth through fire-setting and damage of public property”. His verdict has been annulled multiple times but on the fourth of October it was upheld on the third occasion. His legal proceedings was criticized as “grossly unfair” by rights defenders and bodies.

Call to International Body

The appeal to halt the athlete's death sentence follows a previous letter to the UN high commissioner for rights, backed by over one hundred advocates and entities, calling for measures to stop the competitor's death.

Death Penalty Surge

According to data, there is an “execution crisis in the nation, which has reached shocking proportions”. In two thousand twenty-three, authorities sentenced at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a forty-eight percent increase on 2022. Last year, records showed nine hundred seventy-two executions, representing the peak figure since two thousand fifteen. More than eight hundred people have been executed so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and protesters are focus, especially in the aftermath of the 2022's demonstrations. Experts say the regime have employed the death penalty to quell protest, create fear among the public and reinforce their control on rule.