Amnesty MENA🚨 Today, the Sport & Rights Alliance wrote to the International Olympic Committee @IOCmedia requesting it urgently appeal to the Iranian authorities to halt all executions and quash death sentences, beginning with boxing champion and coach Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani. The imminent threat to the life of this athlete is part of a broader pattern of repression in Iran that has included the arrest of athletes who have exercised their human rights, including by protesting.
On 4 October 2025, Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani’s lawyer, Babak Paknia, publicly posted that Iran’s Supreme Court had upheld his conviction and death sentence. Prior to this, on 20 September 2024, following a grossly unfair trial, a Revolutionary Court in Mashhad, convicted Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani of “corruption on earth” and sentenced him to death for a third time, in relation to the nationwide protests in Iran that took place in November 2019.
@amnesty has repeatedly held that the charge of “corruption on earth” does not meet the principles of legality and clarity as required by international law and standards. The organization has also documented how trials held in Revolutionary Courts are systematically unfair and have resulted in arbitrary executions.
As an athlete and coach, Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani falls within the scope of the #IOC’s human rights and safe sport responsibilities. The IOC has an obligation to protect athletes from violence, including torture and threats to life. These responsibilities were reaffirmed at the 14th Olympic Summit, on 11 December 2025, which recognized athletes’ fundamental right to access sport free from political interference.
Given the imminent risk of execution, urgent action is required. We call on the IOC to appeal to the Iranian authorities to halt executions and to engage directly with the Iranian NOC to protect athletes at risk.
Timely IOC intervention could save lives and demonstrate that the #OlympicMovement stands with athletes facing grave and politically motivated harm.
🔗 Read the full letter: https://amn.st/6016CnWgC
Baaghi TV
