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In excess of twenty Olympic medal winners, trainers and additional world-class competitors have signed a statement calling for a stop to the execution of a boxing titleholder and coach, who is on death row in the country.

Growing Global Anger

Amidst increasing global condemnation over the country's expanding employment of capital punishment as a tool of oppression, the strongly worded letter censures the Iranian regime's decision to maintain the death sentence of the boxing champion.

The athlete, thirty, from the city in the northeastern region, was detained for participating in nationwide protests in two thousand nineteen and accused of aiding an opposition group. He has passed half a decade in incarceration, where he has been mistreated and confined in isolation.

“Athletics is meant to encourage faith, unity, and bravery,” the endorsers stated. “The capital punishment of a winner for his opinions is a clear violation on these principles and a warning to every athlete who attempts to express dissent.

History of Executing Competitors

The statement noted that Vafaei Sani’s situation was not unique and highlighted the nation's record of executing competitors for their convictions, such as a national team leader, captain of the soccer squad, and a volleyball captain, skipper of the female volleyball side. In 2020, Navid Afkari, a 27-year Iranian competitor, faced the death penalty.

Additional supporters to the statement consist of a yachting pioneer, who skippered the pioneering women's squad in a round-the-world competition and was the first woman to be awarded a renowned yachting trophy; the previous skipper of the national squad an athlete; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the 1978 World Cup.

Detention and Unfair Trial

Vafaei Sani was detained in early 2020. The accusations against him entailed “spreading corruption on Earth through incendiarism and destruction of state assets”. His verdict has been reversed on two occasions but on the fourth of October it was maintained on the third attempt. His trial was criticized as “highly unjust” by human rights activists and groups.

Appeal to UN

The call to halt the athlete's death sentence follows a previous letter to the UN high commissioner for rights, signed by over one hundred advocates and entities, urging measures to prevent the competitor's execution.

Execution Crisis

Based on reports, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the country, which has achieved alarming dimensions”. In 2023, the government executed at least 853 people – a nearly half rise on the previous year. In the prior period, statistics showed nine hundred seventy-two capital punishments, marking the peak figure since the year 2015. Over hundreds of people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Dissidents and opponents are targets, notably in the wake of the 2022 protests. Analysts say the government have utilized the death penalty to stifle opposition, instil apprehension among the public and tighten their hold on power.