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Over two dozen Olympic medallists, mentors and further international athletes have endorsed a statement urging a halt to the death penalty of a boxing champion and trainer, who is on death row in Iran.

Growing International Outrage

During rising international outrage over the nation's expanding employment of executions as a instrument of oppression, the forcefully phrased statement condemns the government's ruling to uphold the capital punishment of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The athlete, thirty, from the city in the northeastern region, was detained for being involved in nationwide protests in the year 2019 and indicted of backing an opposition group. He has passed 60 months in incarceration, where he has been tortured and confined in seclusion.

“Sport is intended to inspire faith, unity, and courage,” the signatories stated. “The execution of a winner for his political views is a blatant attack on these ideals and a caution to every athlete who dares to speak out.

Record of Executing Competitors

The letter pointed out that the athlete's circumstances was part of a pattern and emphasized the country's past of putting to death athletes for their convictions, such as a national team leader, skipper of the national football team, and a women's sports leader, captain of the female volleyball side. In two thousand twenty, a wrestling champion, a 27-year national wrestling champion, was also executed.

Other supporters to the letter include a sailing champion, who led the pioneering female-only team in a round-the-world competition and was the first woman to be awarded a prestigious nautical honor; the previous leader of the soccer side Craig Foster; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the international competition.

Arrest and Flawed Legal Process

The boxer was arrested in the spring of 2020. The allegations against him comprised “promoting decay on Earth through arson and damage of government belongings”. His verdict has been annulled on two occasions but on October 4 it was upheld on the third attempt. His court case was condemned as “grossly unfair” by advocates and bodies.

Call to UN

The urging to prevent Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment follows a 2023 statement to the global human rights chief for human rights, backed by more than one hundred rights specialists and organizations, urging measures to prevent the athlete’s death.

Execution Crisis

As per findings, there is an “death penalty surge in Iran, which has achieved horrific dimensions”. In the year 2023, authorities sentenced at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a forty-eight percent increase on the previous year. The year before, statistics showed 972 deaths, representing the maximum count since two thousand fifteen. Over hundreds of people have been executed so far in 2025.

Dissidents and dissidents are victims, particularly in the wake of the 2022 demonstrations. Experts say the government have employed the death penalty to suppress opposition, create anxiety among the population and tighten their grip on rule.