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Over twenty Olympic medallists, mentors and additional global sports figures have put their names to a statement urging a halt to the capital punishment of a boxing champion and trainer, who is sentenced to die in the country.

Escalating Worldwide Condemnation

Amidst rising international outrage over Iran’s expanding employment of executions as a instrument of suppression, the forcefully phrased statement censures the Iranian regime's ruling to confirm the capital punishment of the boxing champion.

The boxer, 30, from the city in the northern province, was taken into custody for participating in national uprisings in the year 2019 and indicted of supporting an opposition group. He has passed half a decade in detention, where he has been tortured and confined in seclusion.

“Sport is designed to inspire optimism, solidarity, and bravery,” the supporters wrote. “The execution of a champion for his beliefs is a direct assault on these values and a admonition to any competitor who attempts to express dissent.

Record of Executing Sports Figures

The appeal noted that the boxer's circumstances was not unique and emphasized Iran’s history of putting to death competitors for their convictions, such as a football captain, leader of the football side, and Fourouzan Abdi, leader of the women's volleyball squad. In 2020, an athlete, a 27-year national sports titleholder, was also executed.

Further supporters to the appeal consist of Tracy Edwards, who skippered the first all-female crew in a global yacht race and was the first woman to be awarded a prestigious yachting trophy; the former leader of the Australian football team an athlete; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the 1978 World Cup.

Detention and Unfair Trial

Vafaei Sani was arrested in early 2020. The accusations against him included “promoting decay on Earth through fire-setting and damage of state assets”. His sentence has been overturned multiple times but on 4 October it was confirmed on the latest review. His legal proceedings was condemned as “highly unjust” by rights defenders and organizations.

Appeal to United Nations

The call to stop Vafaei Sani’s death sentence is subsequent to a previous statement to the UN high commissioner for human rights, endorsed by in excess of 100 human rights experts and entities, demanding action to prevent the sports figure's execution.

Death Penalty Surge

Based on findings, there is an “execution crisis in Iran, which has reached alarming proportions”. In 2023, the government sentenced at least 853 people – a forty-eight percent surge on the previous year. The year before, statistics showed nearly a thousand executions, constituting the peak figure since the year 2015. More than eight hundred people have been put to death so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and opponents are focus, particularly in the aftermath of the 2022 protests. Specialists say the Iranian authorities have utilized the capital punishment to quell dissent, create anxiety among the population and reinforce their control on rule.