🔗 Share this article

In excess of two dozen Olympic champions, coaches and other international athletes have endorsed a appeal calling for a end to the execution of a boxing champion and trainer, who is facing execution in the nation.

Escalating Global Anger

Amid increasing international outrage over the nation's increasing application of capital punishment as a means of repression, the forcefully phrased letter condemns the Iranian regime's ruling to maintain the execution order of the boxing champion.

The athlete, 30, from the city in north-east Iran, was taken into custody for taking part in national uprisings in two thousand nineteen and accused of aiding an resistance movement. He has endured half a decade in prison, where he has been abused and kept in solitary confinement.

“Athletics is meant to promote faith, solidarity, and bravery,” the supporters stated. “The death penalty of a winner for his political views is a clear violation on these ideals and a caution to all sportspeople who attempts to speak out.

History of Killing Sports Figures

The appeal noted that Vafaei Sani’s situation was part of a pattern and highlighted Iran’s record of sentencing to death sports champions for their beliefs, for example a national team leader, captain of the football side, and a volleyball captain, leader of the national women’s volleyball team. In the year 2020, Navid Afkari, a 27-year-old Iranian competitor, faced the death penalty.

Other endorsers to the appeal consist of a yachting pioneer, who captained the first female-only team in a global yacht race and was the first woman to receive a prestigious sailing award; the ex- leader of the Australian football team Craig Foster; and a footballer, who was in the national team for the global tournament.

Detention and Unfair Trial

The boxer was taken into custody in March 2020. The charges against him entailed “promoting decay on Earth through fire-setting and destruction of state assets”. His ruling has been reversed multiple times but on 4 October it was upheld on the latest review. His legal proceedings was criticized as “highly unjust” by advocates and bodies.

Appeal to UN

The appeal to halt Vafaei Sani’s execution follows a 2023 appeal to the UN high commissioner for human rights, backed by over a hundred advocates and groups, urging intervention to stop the sports figure's execution.

Death Penalty Surge

Based on reports, there is an “execution crisis in the nation, which has reached shocking proportions”. In 2023, authorities put to death at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a nearly half surge on 2022. Last year, statistics showed nearly a thousand deaths, marking the peak figure since the year 2015. Over 800 people have been executed so far in 2025.

Activists and dissidents are victims, particularly in the wake of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Specialists say the Iranian authorities have utilized the death penalty to quell protest, create fear among the public and reinforce their control on power.