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More than two dozen Olympic champions, coaches and additional global sports figures have endorsed a statement demanding a end to the capital punishment of a champion boxer and coach, who is facing execution in the country.

Growing Worldwide Condemnation

During increasing worldwide anger over the nation's expanding employment of the death penalty as a tool of oppression, the strongly worded statement condemns the government's verdict to confirm the capital punishment of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

Vafaei Sani, 30, from the city in north-east Iran, was taken into custody for being involved in nationwide protests in 2019 and charged of backing an resistance movement. He has spent 60 months in prison, where he has been mistreated and kept in isolation.

“Sport is meant to inspire optimism, togetherness, and courage,” the endorsers expressed. “The death penalty of a winner for his political views is a blatant attack on these principles and a admonition to any competitor who dares to speak out.

Record of Putting to Death Sports Figures

The statement said that the athlete's circumstances was part of a pattern and highlighted the nation's past of sentencing to death sports champions for their convictions, including a national team leader, leader of the national football team, and a volleyball captain, captain of the female volleyball side. In 2020, an athlete, a young national competitor, was also executed.

Further endorsers to the statement comprise a yachting pioneer, who skippered the inaugural all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the pioneering lady to receive a prestigious nautical honor; the previous captain of the Australian football team a sports advocate; and a footballer, who was in the national team for the global tournament.

Apprehension and Flawed Legal Process

The athlete was taken into custody in March 2020. The accusations against him included “promoting decay on Earth through fire-setting and destruction of state assets”. His verdict has been annulled on two occasions but on 4 October it was confirmed on the third occasion. His legal proceedings was denounced as “grossly unfair” by advocates and organizations.

Call to United Nations

The appeal to stop Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment comes after a previous letter to the UN high commissioner for rights, signed by in excess of 100 rights specialists and groups, urging measures to stop the athlete’s execution.

Execution Crisis

As per data, there is an “execution crisis in Iran, which has reached alarming dimensions”. In 2023, authorities executed at least 853 people – a forty-eight percent rise on 2022. In the prior period, data showed nearly a thousand deaths, marking the peak figure since the year 2015. Over hundreds of people have been put to death so far in 2025.

Activists and opponents are targets, notably in the aftermath of the the year 2022 protests. Specialists say the regime have used the capital punishment to quell dissent, create anxiety among the citizenry and reinforce their hold on rule.