🔗 Share this article

Over two dozen Olympic medal winners, trainers and further global sports figures have put their names to a letter calling for a end to the death penalty of a boxing champion and coach, who is on death row in the country.

Growing International Outrage

Amidst increasing international outrage over the nation's escalating use of capital punishment as a instrument of suppression, the strongly worded appeal denounces the authorities's decision to uphold the capital punishment of the boxing champion.

The boxer, three decades old, from Mashhad in the northeastern region, was arrested for taking part in countrywide demonstrations in two thousand nineteen and indicted of backing an opposition group. He has passed 60 months in detention, where he has been mistreated and held in isolation.

“Competition is intended to encourage faith, solidarity, and bravery,” the supporters expressed. “The execution of a champion for his beliefs is a direct assault on these principles and a admonition to any competitor who ventures to voice opinions.

History of Executing Athletes

The statement pointed out that the boxer's circumstances was not an isolated one and highlighted Iran’s history of sentencing to death athletes for their beliefs, for example Habib Khabiri, captain of the football side, and Fourouzan Abdi, captain of the female volleyball side. In the year 2020, Navid Afkari, a young national wrestling champion, faced the death penalty.

Further signatories to the letter consist of Tracy Edwards, who captained the first all-female crew in a international sailing event and was the pioneering lady to earn a esteemed yachting trophy; the ex- captain of the national squad an athlete; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the country's selection for the 1978 World Cup.

Arrest and Unfair Trial

The boxer was arrested in early 2020. The charges against him entailed “causing deterioration on Earth through arson and ruin of public property”. His ruling has been overturned multiple times but on the fourth of October it was maintained on the third occasion. His court case was criticized as “deeply biased” by advocates and groups.

Appeal to UN

The call to stop Vafaei Sani’s execution comes after a earlier statement to the UN high commissioner for rights, endorsed by over a hundred human rights experts and organizations, calling for measures to avert the competitor's execution.

Death Penalty Surge

Based on data, there is an “execution crisis in the nation, which has attained shocking levels”. In two thousand twenty-three, officials put to death at least over 850 people – a forty-eight percent surge on 2022. Last year, data showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, representing the maximum count since two thousand fifteen. In excess of eight hundred people have been put to death so far in 2025.

Dissidents and protesters are victims, notably in the aftermath of the 2022's protests. Experts say the regime have employed the capital punishment to quell protest, generate fear among the population and reinforce their grip on power.