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Over two dozen Olympic medallists, coaches and further global sports figures have put their names to a letter urging a halt to the death penalty of a boxing champion and coach, who is facing execution in the country.

Escalating International Outrage

Amidst rising global condemnation over the country's expanding employment of capital punishment as a instrument of repression, the forcefully phrased statement censures the authorities's decision to uphold the death sentence of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The athlete, 30, from the city in the northern province, was arrested for taking part in countrywide demonstrations in two thousand nineteen and indicted of aiding an opposition group. He has spent five years in detention, where he has been mistreated and held in seclusion.

“Competition is intended to inspire hope, unity, and fortitude,” the signatories wrote. “The capital punishment of a winner for his political views is a direct assault on these values and a caution to every athlete who attempts to voice opinions.

Record of Executing Sports Figures

The appeal noted that the boxer's situation was not an isolated one and underscored Iran’s history of sentencing to death sports champions for their beliefs, including Habib Khabiri, leader of the national football team, and a volleyball captain, captain of the women's volleyball squad. In 2020, Navid Afkari, a young national sports titleholder, faced the death penalty.

Other supporters to the statement include a yachting pioneer, who skippered the inaugural female-only team in a round-the-world competition and was the first woman to be awarded a prestigious nautical honor; the previous captain of the soccer side an athlete; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the country's selection for the international competition.

Apprehension and Unjust Proceedings

The boxer was taken into custody in early 2020. The allegations against him comprised “spreading corruption on Earth through incendiarism and ruin of state assets”. His sentence has been annulled on two occasions but on the fourth of October it was upheld on the third attempt. His legal proceedings was denounced as “grossly unfair” by rights defenders and organizations.

Urging to UN

The urging to halt Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment is subsequent to a previous statement to the UN high commissioner for rights, backed by more than 100 rights specialists and entities, urging action to prevent the athlete’s death.

Execution Crisis

Based on data, there is an “death penalty surge in the nation, which has attained alarming proportions”. In the year 2023, authorities sentenced at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a nearly half rise on 2022. The year before, statistics showed nearly a thousand deaths, representing the highest number since 2015. In excess of 800 people have been executed so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and dissidents are victims, especially in the aftermath of the 2022's demonstrations. Specialists say the regime have used the capital punishment to stifle dissent, instil anxiety among the citizenry and strengthen their control on authority.