🔗 Share this article

In excess of two dozen Olympic medal winners, coaches and further global sports figures have endorsed a appeal calling for a halt to the death penalty of a boxing champion and instructor, who is sentenced to die in the nation.

Growing Worldwide Condemnation

Amid increasing global condemnation over Iran’s expanding employment of executions as a means of oppression, the forcefully phrased letter condemns the authorities's verdict to uphold the death sentence of the boxing champion.

Vafaei Sani, three decades old, from the city in the northeastern region, was detained for participating in countrywide demonstrations in the year 2019 and accused of aiding an resistance movement. He has spent five years in prison, where he has been mistreated and confined in solitary confinement.

“Sport is intended to promote hope, togetherness, and bravery,” the supporters wrote. “The execution of a champion for his opinions is a blatant attack on these values and a admonition to every athlete who attempts to express dissent.

Pattern of Killing Sports Figures

The letter said that Vafaei Sani’s case was part of a pattern and highlighted the nation's record of putting to death competitors for their views, including a national team leader, captain of the football side, and Fourouzan Abdi, captain of the national women’s volleyball team. In 2020, an athlete, a 27-year Iranian wrestling champion, was put to death.

Other endorsers to the letter include Tracy Edwards, who led the pioneering female-only team in a global yacht race and was the first woman to be awarded a esteemed yachting trophy; the former captain of the Australian football team an athlete; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the 1978 World Cup.

Arrest and Unfair Trial

The boxer was detained in March 2020. The allegations against him included “causing deterioration on Earth through arson and damage of state assets”. His sentence has been annulled multiple times but on October 4 it was upheld on the latest review. His legal proceedings was condemned as “grossly unfair” by rights defenders and organizations.

Urging to UN

The urging to prevent the boxer's execution is subsequent to a earlier appeal to the United Nations official for freedoms, endorsed by in excess of one hundred advocates and entities, calling for intervention to avert the athlete’s execution.

Death Penalty Surge

Based on data, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the country, which has achieved shocking levels”. In the year 2023, authorities executed at least over 850 people – a 48% surge on the previous year. The year before, records showed nine hundred seventy-two executions, marking the maximum count since 2015. Over hundreds of people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Dissidents and protesters are focus, especially in the aftermath of the 2022 demonstrations. Analysts say the government have utilized the death penalty to stifle dissent, instil anxiety among the population and tighten their grip on power.