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In excess of 20 Olympic medal winners, mentors and further world-class competitors have endorsed a statement demanding a stop to the capital punishment of a champion boxer and coach, who is facing execution in the nation.

Growing International Outrage

During growing worldwide anger over the country's expanding employment of capital punishment as a instrument of suppression, the strongly worded statement denounces the authorities's ruling to maintain the death sentence of the boxing champion.

The boxer, 30, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was taken into custody for being involved in countrywide demonstrations in two thousand nineteen and charged of aiding an opposition group. He has endured five years in detention, where he has been tortured and confined in solitary confinement.

“Athletics is designed to inspire hope, unity, and courage,” the endorsers wrote. “The capital punishment of a titleholder for his opinions is a blatant attack on these ideals and a caution to any competitor who attempts to voice opinions.

History of Executing Sports Figures

The statement pointed out that Vafaei Sani’s case was not unique and underscored Iran’s past of executing athletes for their views, such as a national team leader, captain of the soccer squad, and a volleyball captain, skipper of the national women’s volleyball team. In two thousand twenty, Navid Afkari, a 27-year national wrestling champion, was also executed.

Further signatories to the appeal consist of a yachting pioneer, who skippered the inaugural all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the pioneering lady to be awarded a esteemed sailing award; the previous captain of the national squad a sports advocate; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the national team for the international competition.

Arrest and Unfair Trial

The boxer was taken into custody in the spring of 2020. The charges against him entailed “promoting decay on Earth through incendiarism and damage of government belongings”. His verdict has been annulled twice but on 4 October it was maintained on the third occasion. His legal proceedings was condemned as “deeply biased” by advocates and bodies.

Appeal to United Nations

The call to stop Vafaei Sani’s death sentence follows a previous statement to the United Nations official for rights, signed by over one hundred rights specialists and groups, demanding measures to avert the competitor's execution.

Execution Crisis

According to findings, there is an “capital punishment escalation in Iran, which has achieved horrific proportions”. In the year 2023, the government executed at least 853 people – a forty-eight percent increase on the previous year. The year before, records showed nearly a thousand deaths, marking the maximum count since the year 2015. Over 800 people have been executed so far in 2025.

Activists and dissidents are victims, notably in the wake of the 2022 protests. Analysts say the Iranian authorities have employed the executions to stifle opposition, generate anxiety among the citizenry and reinforce their hold on authority.