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More than two dozen Olympic medallists, coaches and additional international athletes have put their names to a appeal calling for a halt to the death penalty of a champion boxer and coach, who is on death row in the country.

Escalating International Outrage

Amidst growing international outrage over Iran’s expanding employment of capital punishment as a tool of suppression, the strongly worded letter denounces the Iranian regime's ruling to maintain the capital punishment of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

Vafaei Sani, three decades old, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was arrested for participating in nationwide protests in 2019 and charged of backing an resistance movement. He has spent half a decade in detention, where he has been tortured and confined in seclusion.

“Sport is meant to promote hope, solidarity, and courage,” the endorsers expressed. “The capital punishment of a winner for his opinions is a clear violation on these principles and a admonition to all sportspeople who dares to express dissent.

History of Killing Sports Figures

The statement noted that the athlete's case was part of a pattern and underscored the nation's history of putting to death sports champions for their convictions, such as a national team leader, skipper of the national football team, and Fourouzan Abdi, skipper of the national women’s volleyball team. In the year 2020, Navid Afkari, a 27-year-old national competitor, was put to death.

Further endorsers to the letter include a sailing champion, who skippered the pioneering all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the first woman to receive a prestigious yachting trophy; the previous leader of the national squad an athlete; and a sports figure, who was in the national team for the global tournament.

Arrest and Unjust Proceedings

The boxer was taken into custody in early 2020. The accusations against him entailed “causing deterioration on Earth through fire-setting and damage of state assets”. His verdict has been reversed multiple times but on October 4 it was upheld on the third occasion. His legal proceedings was criticized as “grossly unfair” by rights defenders and organizations.

Call to International Body

The appeal to halt the athlete's death sentence follows a 2023 statement to the UN high commissioner for freedoms, endorsed by over a hundred advocates and groups, urging measures to avert the sports figure's execution.

Capital Punishment Escalation

According to data, there is an “execution crisis in Iran, which has achieved horrific proportions”. In the year 2023, authorities sentenced at least 853 people – a forty-eight percent surge on 2022. The year before, records showed 972 executions, marking the highest number since the year 2015. More than eight hundred people have been sentenced so far in the current year.

Activists and opponents are targets, particularly in the wake of the 2022's uprising. Analysts say the Iranian authorities have employed the capital punishment to stifle protest, create apprehension among the citizenry and strengthen their control on rule.