🔗 Share this article Sports Champions Appeal on Iranian Authorities to Stop Execution of Boxing Champion In excess of 20 Olympic medal winners, mentors and additional world-class competitors have signed a statement urging a end to the capital punishment of a boxing titleholder and instructor, who is sentenced to die in the country. Increasing Worldwide Condemnation Amid rising worldwide anger over the country's increasing application of executions as a instrument of oppression, the powerfully expressed appeal denounces the authorities's decision to maintain the death sentence of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani. The boxer, 30, from Mashhad in the northeastern region, was arrested for participating in countrywide demonstrations in 2019 and charged of backing an dissident organization. He has passed half a decade in prison, where he has been mistreated and held in solitary confinement. “Sport is designed to promote faith, togetherness, and courage,” the supporters stated. “The death penalty of a winner for his beliefs is a direct assault on these principles and a caution to any competitor who attempts to voice opinions. Pattern of Putting to Death Sports Figures The statement noted that the boxer's circumstances was not unique and emphasized Iran’s past of sentencing to death competitors for their convictions, including Habib Khabiri, captain of the football side, and a women's sports leader, skipper of the female volleyball side. In 2020, a wrestling champion, a 27-year-old Iranian sports titleholder, was also executed. Further signatories to the appeal comprise a sailing champion, who led the pioneering all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the pioneering lady to receive a esteemed nautical honor; the ex- skipper 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 detained in March 2020. The charges against him comprised “causing deterioration on Earth through arson and damage of public property”. His sentence has been overturned on two occasions but on 4 October it was confirmed on the latest review. His court case was condemned as “deeply biased” by human rights activists and bodies. Urging to International Body The urging to prevent Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment comes after a previous appeal to the global human rights chief for freedoms, backed by more than one hundred advocates and groups, calling for intervention to stop the sports figure's execution. Death Penalty Surge As per findings, there is an “execution crisis in the nation, which has reached shocking dimensions”. In 2023, the government sentenced at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a forty-eight percent rise on the previous year. The year before, records showed nine hundred seventy-two executions, constituting the highest number since the year 2015. Over hundreds of people have been put to death so far in 2025. Dissidents and protesters are focus, especially in the aftermath of the the year 2022 protests. Specialists say the Iranian authorities have utilized the death penalty to quell protest, generate anxiety among the citizenry and strengthen their grip on authority.