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More than 20 Olympic medallists, mentors and additional world-class competitors have endorsed a statement demanding a end to the execution of a champion boxer and trainer, who is facing execution in the country.

Escalating International Outrage

Amid increasing international outrage over the nation's increasing application of executions as a instrument of suppression, the powerfully expressed letter denounces the Iranian regime's decision to uphold the execution order of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The athlete, 30, from the city in north-east Iran, was taken into custody for participating in national uprisings in two thousand nineteen and indicted of supporting an opposition group. He has spent five years in detention, where he has been tortured and kept in isolation.

“Athletics is intended to promote faith, solidarity, and fortitude,” the endorsers expressed. “The capital punishment of a champion for his beliefs is a blatant attack on these ideals and a caution to all sportspeople who dares to speak out.

Record of Putting to Death Athletes

The letter pointed out that Vafaei Sani’s situation was not unique and highlighted the country's history of executing athletes for their views, for example Habib Khabiri, captain of the soccer squad, and Fourouzan Abdi, captain of the women's volleyball squad. In the year 2020, an athlete, a young Iranian competitor, was also executed.

Additional signatories to the appeal include a yachting pioneer, who led the pioneering female-only team in a round-the-world competition and was the first woman to earn a renowned nautical honor; the former leader of the Australian football team Craig Foster; and a footballer, who was in the Iranian squad for the international competition.

Apprehension and Unfair Trial

The athlete was arrested in the spring of 2020. The charges against him entailed “causing deterioration on Earth through arson and damage of state assets”. His verdict has been annulled twice but on October 4 it was upheld on the latest review. His legal proceedings was criticized as “highly unjust” by rights defenders and organizations.

Call to International Body

The appeal to prevent the athlete's death sentence follows a earlier statement to the global human rights chief for rights, signed by more than 100 rights specialists and groups, urging intervention to prevent the athlete’s execution.

Execution Crisis

As per data, there is an “execution crisis 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 2022. Last year, statistics showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, representing the peak figure since two thousand fifteen. More than hundreds of people have been executed so far in 2025.

Activists and dissidents are focus, especially in the aftermath of the 2022 demonstrations. Experts say the regime have utilized the death penalty to suppress opposition, instil fear among the public and tighten their control on rule.