Boxing Champion's Life Hangs in the Balance as Supreme Court Denies Retrial
An Iranian boxing champion is believed to be at immediate risk of execution after the country's supreme court rejected his plea for a retrial. Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, a 30-year-old athlete from Mashhad, has spent five years in prison following his arrest during the nationwide democracy protests of 2019-2020.
Campaign groups state that Vafaei Sani's life is now in grave danger and that his execution could be carried out at any time. The alarm was raised after his request for a judicial review was formally turned down on 15 December.
A Troubling Signal and a History of Unfair Trials
On the same day his retrial was denied, Vafaei Sani was granted an unexpected visit from his mother. Human rights advocates see this as a potential sign that authorities are preparing to implement his death sentence. The prison informed his mother via telephone that his case had been forwarded to the department for implementing sentences in Mashhad.
Vafaei Sani was originally convicted on the charge of "corruption on Earth" for allegedly supporting the opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK). Amnesty International has condemned his proceedings as a "grossly unfair trial". His death sentence was upheld for a third time in September 2024 and confirmed by the supreme court on 4 October.
Shahin Gobadi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran's foreign affairs committee stated: "One has to keep in mind that in the past six years, the regime has used extensive torture and has tried hard to force him to renounce the MEK."
Global Outcry from Athletes and Human Rights Organisations
The case has sparked international condemnation. In November, more than 20 Olympic medallists, coaches, and prominent athletes, including Martina Navratilova and Sharron Davies, signed a letter demanding a halt to his execution.
Mauricio Sulaimán, president of the World Boxing Council (WBC), issued a powerful statement: "Boxing is a discipline that inspires courage, respect and the pursuit of self-improvement, not a reason for political punishment. The execution of a boxer, of a champion, for expressing his ideas is a direct attack on the fundamental values of sport and human dignity."
This is not an isolated incident in Iran. The regime has a history of executing athletes, including national football team captain Habib Khabiri in 1984 and wrestler Navid Afkari in 2020.
An Execution Crisis in Iran
The situation for Vafaei Sani unfolds against a backdrop of a severe escalation in the use of the death penalty in Iran. According to Iran Human Rights, at least 1,000 people were executed in the first nine months of 2025—a 30-year high—with the total now believed to exceed 1,500.
Amnesty International warns of an "execution crisis in Iran, which has reached horrific proportions". Experts state that authorities are deliberately using capital punishment to instil fear, silence dissent, and consolidate power, particularly in the wake of the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom uprising.
Nassim Papayianni, Amnesty International’s senior campaigner on Iran, has called for urgent action: "Amnesty International has repeatedly held that this charge does not meet the principles of legality and clarity as required by international law and standards... We call on the Iranian authorities to immediately halt any plans to carry out Vafaei Sani’s execution and quash his conviction and death sentence."
