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More than two dozen Olympic medal winners, trainers and other world-class competitors have put their names to a statement calling for a stop to the capital punishment of a champion boxer and instructor, who is on death row in Iran.

Growing Worldwide Condemnation

Amidst growing global condemnation over the country's expanding employment of capital punishment as a means of oppression, the forcefully phrased letter denounces the authorities's verdict to confirm the execution order of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

Vafaei Sani, 30, from Mashhad in the northern province, was arrested for taking part in national uprisings in the year 2019 and charged of aiding an resistance movement. He has endured five years in prison, where he has been mistreated and confined in isolation.

“Athletics is meant to promote optimism, togetherness, and bravery,” the supporters expressed. “The capital punishment of a titleholder for his beliefs is a clear violation on these ideals and a admonition to any competitor who dares to speak out.

History of Killing Competitors

The letter said that Vafaei Sani’s case was not an isolated one and underscored Iran’s history of sentencing to death sports champions for their beliefs, for example a football captain, leader of the soccer squad, and a women's sports leader, captain of the national women’s volleyball team. In two thousand twenty, a wrestling champion, a 27-year-old national wrestling champion, was also executed.

Other supporters to the statement consist of Tracy Edwards, who led the inaugural female-only team in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to be awarded a renowned sailing award; the ex- captain of the national squad an athlete; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the country's selection for the international competition.

Detention and Unfair Trial

Vafaei Sani was arrested in the spring of 2020. The allegations against him entailed “spreading corruption on Earth through fire-setting and destruction of government belongings”. His verdict has been annulled twice but on 4 October it was upheld on the latest review. His court case was criticized as “highly unjust” by human rights activists and organizations.

Urging to International Body

The appeal to stop the boxer's death sentence is subsequent to a previous letter to the United Nations official for freedoms, endorsed by in excess of a hundred rights specialists and organizations, urging measures to prevent the competitor's death.

Death Penalty Surge

Based on data, there is an “execution crisis in the nation, which has achieved shocking proportions”. In 2023, the government executed at least 853 people – a forty-eight percent surge on 2022. Last year, data showed nine hundred seventy-two capital punishments, representing the highest number since two thousand fifteen. More than eight hundred people have been executed so far in 2025.

Dissidents and opponents are focus, notably in the wake of the 2022's protests. Analysts say the government have utilized the capital punishment to quell opposition, create apprehension among the population and reinforce their control on power.