🔗 Share this article

More than two dozen Olympic champions, coaches and additional international athletes have put their names to a appeal urging a stop to the capital punishment of a champion boxer and trainer, who is on death row in Iran.

Increasing International Outrage

Amidst rising international outrage over the nation's escalating use of executions as a instrument of suppression, the forcefully phrased letter denounces the Iranian regime's ruling to uphold the execution order of the boxing champion.

The boxer, three decades old, from the city in the northeastern region, was detained for participating in nationwide protests in the year 2019 and accused of supporting an resistance movement. He has endured five years in detention, where he has been abused and kept in seclusion.

“Competition is designed to inspire hope, togetherness, and fortitude,” the signatories stated. “The execution of a titleholder for his beliefs is a direct assault on these values and a caution to all sportspeople who attempts to speak out.

History of Putting to Death Athletes

The appeal pointed out that Vafaei Sani’s situation was part of a pattern and emphasized Iran’s past of sentencing to death competitors for their convictions, including Habib Khabiri, captain of the football side, and Fourouzan Abdi, leader of the national women’s volleyball team. In two thousand twenty, an athlete, a 27-year national wrestling champion, was put to death.

Additional supporters to the letter consist of a yachting pioneer, who led the pioneering female-only team in a international sailing event and was the initial female to earn a renowned sailing award; the ex- skipper of the national squad Craig Foster; and a sports figure, who was in the Iranian squad for the international competition.

Apprehension and Unjust Proceedings

The boxer was taken into custody in March 2020. The allegations against him entailed “promoting decay on Earth through incendiarism and destruction of public property”. His ruling has been annulled multiple times but on 4 October it was confirmed on the latest review. His legal proceedings was condemned as “highly unjust” by human rights activists and bodies.

Urging to UN

The urging to prevent Vafaei Sani’s death sentence follows a previous letter to the UN high commissioner for rights, signed by more than one hundred advocates and groups, calling for intervention to prevent the competitor's execution.

Death Penalty Surge

As per findings, there is an “death penalty surge in Iran, which has reached alarming levels”. In two thousand twenty-three, the government executed at least 853 people – a forty-eight percent rise on the previous year. In the prior period, records showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, representing the peak figure since 2015. In excess of hundreds of people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and dissidents are focus, particularly in the aftermath of the 2022's uprising. Specialists say the regime have used the death penalty to stifle opposition, generate anxiety among the citizenry and tighten their hold on authority.