🔗 Share this article Sports Champions Appeal on Iran to Prevent Death Sentence of Champion Boxer More than two dozen Olympic medallists, trainers and further global sports figures have endorsed a statement urging a halt to the execution of a champion boxer and trainer, who is sentenced to die in the country. Growing Worldwide Condemnation Amid growing global condemnation over the country's expanding employment of capital punishment as a tool of oppression, the forcefully phrased statement condemns the government's verdict to confirm the execution order of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani. The boxer, thirty, from the city in the northeastern region, was arrested for taking part in national uprisings in 2019 and charged of backing an resistance movement. He has passed five years in prison, where he has been tortured and kept in seclusion. “Competition is intended to encourage hope, togetherness, and bravery,” the signatories stated. “The death penalty of a champion for his political views is a blatant attack on these principles and a caution to any competitor who attempts to voice opinions. History of Putting to Death Athletes The appeal said that the boxer's situation was not unique and underscored the country's record of putting to death sports champions for their views, including Habib Khabiri, captain of the football side, and a volleyball captain, skipper of the national women’s volleyball team. In the year 2020, Navid Afkari, a 27-year Iranian competitor, was put to death. Other endorsers to the statement comprise Tracy Edwards, who captained the pioneering female-only team in a global yacht race and was the first woman to receive a renowned sailing award; the ex- leader of the soccer side Craig Foster; and a footballer, who was in the Iranian squad for the 1978 World Cup. Detention and Unfair Trial The boxer was taken into custody in early 2020. The charges against him entailed “causing deterioration on Earth through incendiarism and destruction of public property”. His sentence has been reversed twice but on the fourth of October it was confirmed on the latest review. His legal proceedings was criticized as “highly unjust” by human rights activists and groups. Call to UN The appeal to prevent the athlete's death sentence comes after a earlier statement to the UN high commissioner for rights, endorsed by more than 100 human rights experts and organizations, urging intervention to stop the sports figure's execution. Execution Crisis As per data, there is an “death penalty surge in Iran, which has achieved alarming dimensions”. In two thousand twenty-three, the government sentenced at least over 850 people – a forty-eight percent surge on 2022. In the prior period, statistics showed nearly a thousand deaths, representing the highest number since 2015. More than eight hundred people have been sentenced so far in 2025. Dissidents and dissidents are targets, notably in the wake of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Experts say the Iranian authorities have utilized the capital punishment to quell dissent, instil apprehension among the population and tighten their hold on authority.