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In excess of twenty Olympic medallists, coaches and other world-class competitors have endorsed a appeal urging a end to the execution of a champion boxer and instructor, who is sentenced to die in Iran.

Growing Worldwide Condemnation

Amid increasing international outrage over Iran’s escalating use of the death penalty as a means of repression, the strongly worded appeal condemns the authorities's decision to maintain the capital punishment of the boxing champion.

Vafaei Sani, thirty, from Mashhad in the northern province, was taken into custody for being involved in nationwide protests in two thousand nineteen and charged of backing an dissident organization. He has passed half a decade in prison, where he has been tortured and kept in solitary confinement.

“Sport is intended to promote faith, solidarity, and fortitude,” the signatories wrote. “The capital punishment of a titleholder for his opinions is a blatant attack on these values and a admonition to every athlete who ventures to voice opinions.

Pattern of Executing Sports Figures

The appeal said that Vafaei Sani’s circumstances was not an isolated one and underscored the nation's record of sentencing to death sports champions for their convictions, including Habib Khabiri, leader of the national football team, and a volleyball captain, captain of the national women’s volleyball team. In 2020, an athlete, a 27-year Iranian sports titleholder, was put to death.

Further endorsers to the statement consist of Tracy Edwards, who captained the first female-only team in a round-the-world competition and was the first woman to earn a esteemed nautical honor; the ex- skipper of the Australian football team a sports advocate; and a sports figure, who was in the Iranian squad for the international competition.

Apprehension and Unfair Trial

The athlete was arrested in March 2020. The allegations against him entailed “causing deterioration on Earth through arson and damage of public property”. His ruling has been reversed twice but on the fourth of October it was confirmed on the latest review. His court case was denounced as “grossly unfair” by rights defenders and groups.

Urging to International Body

The urging to prevent the boxer's capital punishment follows a previous letter to the United Nations official for rights, endorsed by in excess of 100 advocates and groups, demanding intervention to stop the competitor's capital punishment.

Capital Punishment Escalation

Based on reports, there is an “capital punishment escalation in Iran, which has attained alarming levels”. In the year 2023, authorities executed at least 853 people – a forty-eight percent increase on the previous year. In the prior period, data showed nine hundred seventy-two executions, constituting the maximum count since the year 2015. Over hundreds of people have been executed so far in 2025.

Dissidents and protesters are focus, notably in the aftermath of the the year 2022 protests. Specialists say the Iranian authorities have used the executions to suppress protest, generate anxiety among the population and strengthen their hold on power.