🔗 Share this article Sports Champions Urge on Iranian Authorities to Halt Death Sentence of Champion Boxer More than two dozen Olympic medal winners, trainers and other international athletes have put their names to a letter urging a stop to the death penalty of a boxing titleholder and coach, who is facing execution in the nation. Increasing International Outrage During growing global condemnation over the nation's increasing application of the death penalty as a instrument of suppression, the strongly worded letter censures the authorities's verdict to maintain the execution order of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani. The boxer, three decades old, from Mashhad in the northern province, was taken into custody for participating in nationwide protests in two thousand nineteen and charged of backing an resistance movement. He has passed five years in prison, where he has been tortured and confined in isolation. “Competition is intended to inspire hope, unity, and fortitude,” the signatories expressed. “The death penalty of a champion for his beliefs is a blatant attack on these principles and a caution to all sportspeople who ventures to voice opinions. History of Putting to Death Sports Figures The statement noted that the athlete's circumstances was not an isolated one and emphasized the country's past of putting to death athletes for their convictions, including a football captain, captain of the national football team, and Fourouzan Abdi, captain of the female volleyball side. In 2020, Navid Afkari, a young national competitor, faced the death penalty. Other endorsers to the appeal comprise Tracy Edwards, who skippered the first all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to be awarded a renowned yachting trophy; the former captain of the national squad a sports advocate; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the country's selection for the international competition. Detention and Unfair Trial The boxer was taken into custody in March 2020. The accusations against him entailed “causing deterioration on Earth through arson and destruction of public property”. His sentence has been reversed on two occasions but on October 4 it was upheld on the third occasion. His trial was denounced as “highly unjust” by advocates and bodies. Urging to International Body The appeal to halt Vafaei Sani’s death sentence comes after a earlier letter to the United Nations official for human rights, signed by more than one hundred rights specialists and organizations, urging action to prevent the sports figure's execution. Capital Punishment Escalation As per findings, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the country, which has achieved horrific levels”. In the year 2023, officials put to death at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a nearly half increase on 2022. Last year, statistics showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, marking the highest number since two thousand fifteen. Over hundreds of people have been sentenced so far in 2025. Activists and dissidents are focus, notably in the aftermath of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Analysts say the government have employed the capital punishment to quell dissent, instil fear among the citizenry and reinforce their control on rule.