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Over 20 Olympic champions, trainers and additional global sports figures have put their names to a letter demanding a stop to the execution of a boxing champion and trainer, who is facing execution in Iran.

Growing Worldwide Condemnation

Amidst growing worldwide anger over the country's increasing application of executions as a means of suppression, the powerfully expressed letter censures the government's decision to uphold the execution order of the boxing champion.

The athlete, three decades old, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was detained for participating in countrywide demonstrations in 2019 and indicted of supporting an dissident organization. He has passed half a decade in prison, where he has been abused and held in isolation.

“Competition is intended to encourage faith, unity, and bravery,” the endorsers wrote. “The execution of a titleholder for his opinions is a direct assault on these ideals and a warning to every athlete who attempts to voice opinions.

Pattern of Putting to Death Athletes

The letter said that Vafaei Sani’s case was not unique and emphasized the nation's history of putting to death sports champions for their views, for example a national team leader, captain of the soccer squad, and Fourouzan Abdi, leader of the women's volleyball squad. In 2020, Navid Afkari, a 27-year-old national sports titleholder, was also executed.

Further endorsers to the statement include a sailing champion, who skippered the inaugural women's squad in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to earn a renowned nautical honor; the ex- captain of the soccer side Craig Foster; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the country's selection for the 1978 World Cup.

Apprehension and Unjust Proceedings

Vafaei Sani was arrested in March 2020. The accusations against him entailed “spreading corruption on Earth through incendiarism and ruin of government belongings”. His sentence has been overturned on two occasions but on the fourth of October it was maintained on the third occasion. His court case was denounced as “highly unjust” by human rights activists and organizations.

Call to UN

The urging to halt the athlete's capital punishment comes after a earlier appeal to the global human rights chief for human rights, backed by more than one hundred advocates and organizations, calling for intervention to prevent the sports figure's capital punishment.

Capital Punishment Escalation

Based on data, there is an “death penalty surge in the nation, which has reached horrific levels”. In the year 2023, the government sentenced at least 853 people – a nearly half rise on 2022. In the prior period, records showed 972 executions, representing the peak figure since 2015. Over hundreds of people have been executed so far in 2025.

Dissidents and protesters are targets, especially in the aftermath of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Experts say the government have utilized the capital punishment to suppress dissent, create fear among the citizenry and reinforce their control on authority.