🔗 Share this article

Over twenty Olympic medal winners, trainers and other world-class competitors have put their names to a letter calling for a halt to the execution of a boxing champion and instructor, who is on death row in Iran.

Increasing Worldwide Condemnation

Amid increasing global condemnation over the country's expanding employment of the death penalty as a means of oppression, the strongly worded statement denounces the authorities's verdict to maintain the execution order of the athlete.

The boxer, 30, from Mashhad in the northeastern region, was arrested for participating in national uprisings in 2019 and accused of aiding an resistance movement. He has endured half a decade in detention, where he has been tortured and held in seclusion.

“Athletics is meant to promote hope, togetherness, and bravery,” the signatories wrote. “The capital punishment of a champion for his beliefs is a blatant attack on these values and a caution to every athlete who ventures to voice opinions.

History of Putting to Death Sports Figures

The letter pointed out that Vafaei Sani’s circumstances was not unique and highlighted Iran’s history of executing sports champions for their views, such as a football captain, captain of the soccer squad, and a volleyball captain, skipper of the national women’s volleyball team. In 2020, Navid Afkari, a 27-year-old national competitor, faced the death penalty.

Other endorsers to the appeal include a yachting pioneer, who skippered the first all-female crew in a international sailing event and was the initial female to earn a esteemed sailing award; the previous skipper of the Australian football team an athlete; and a sports figure, who was in the Iranian squad for the 1978 World Cup.

Arrest and Flawed Legal Process

The boxer was detained in March 2020. The charges against him included “promoting decay on Earth through incendiarism and damage of public property”. His sentence has been annulled on two occasions but on October 4 it was upheld on the third occasion. His trial was condemned as “grossly unfair” by human rights activists and groups.

Call to International Body

The urging to prevent Vafaei Sani’s death sentence follows a previous statement to the global human rights chief for freedoms, signed by in excess of 100 human rights experts and entities, calling for intervention to avert the athlete’s death.

Capital Punishment Escalation

As per findings, there is an “death penalty surge in the nation, which has reached shocking dimensions”. In the year 2023, authorities executed at least over 850 people – a 48% increase on 2022. The year before, data showed nearly a thousand executions, marking the highest number since 2015. In excess of 800 people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Dissidents and protesters are focus, particularly in the aftermath of the 2022 demonstrations. Analysts say the regime have used the death penalty to suppress protest, generate apprehension among the population and strengthen their control on authority.