GLOBAL – More than 20 of the world's most prominent athletes, including Olympic medallists and world champions, have issued a joint demand for Iran to stop the planned execution of 30-year-old boxing champion Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani. The case has ignited global outrage and drawn sharp focus on what human rights organizations call Iran's systematic use of capital punishment to suppress political dissent.

The letter, signed by sporting legends such as tennis great Martina Navratilova and British Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies, condemns the death sentence as a direct assault on the values of sport. “Sport is meant to inspire hope, unity, and courage,” the signatories wrote on Tuesday, November 11, 2025. “The execution of a champion for his political views is a direct assault on these values and a warning to every athlete who dares to speak out.”

Vafaei Sani was arrested in March 2020 for his participation in nationwide protests in 2019. He was accused of “corruption on earth” through arson and destruction of public property, and for supporting the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK), a political-militant opposition group banned by the regime. According to human rights groups, Vafaei Sani has been held for five years in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad, where he has endured torture and solitary confinement.

A Flawed Judicial Process

Vafaei Sani's legal battle has been fraught with irregularities, according to his lawyer and human rights monitors. Iran's Supreme Court upheld his death sentence on Saturday, October 4, 2025, despite having twice overturned the same verdict due to what his attorney described as “numerous legal flaws.” The Mashhad Revolutionary Court re-issued the death sentence for a third time in September 2024, a decision that was ultimately affirmed. Human rights organizations state that Vafaei Sani was denied access to his chosen lawyer and subjected to a closed-door trial lacking clear evidence.

The international coalition of athletes is calling on the United Nations, international sports federations, and global governments to intervene immediately. “The world must not stand by while Iran silences its champions,” their letter urged.

A History of Persecuting Athletes

This case is not an isolated incident. Iran has a long and documented history of targeting athletes for their political beliefs. In September 2020, the execution of 27-year-old wrestling champion Navid Afkari for his role in 2018 protests sparked a global outcry, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) expressing shock and sadness. Despite international pleas, Afkari was hanged.

Other athletes executed by the regime include Habib Khabiri, former captain of the national football team, and Forouzan Abdi, captain of the women’s national volleyball team. This pattern of persecution, human rights groups argue, is a deliberate strategy to intimidate and silence prominent figures who might inspire dissent.

Escalating Use of Capital Punishment

The call to save Vafaei Sani comes amid a dramatic surge in executions in Iran. According to a report by Amnesty International, Iran executed at least 972 people in 2024, accounting for 64% of all known executions globally and marking the highest figure for the country since 2015. The organization states that the death penalty is increasingly used as a tool of political repression, often following grossly unfair trials. Rights monitors reported that over 1,040 executions were recorded in the first nine months of 2025 alone, double the figure from the same period in the previous year.

While there has been no official statement from Kenyan or East African sporting bodies on this specific case, the issue touches on universal principles of human rights and the role of athletes as global citizens. The persecution of athletes anywhere challenges the core values of the international sports community, which relies on principles of fairness, justice, and human dignity—values that Kenyan athletes and sports institutions uphold. The global solidarity shown for Vafaei Sani underscores the belief that an injustice against one athlete is a threat to all who compete and believe in the unifying power of sport.