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Over 20 Olympic medal winners, coaches and other international athletes have endorsed a appeal calling for a stop to the capital punishment of a boxing titleholder and trainer, who is sentenced to die in Iran.

Growing International Outrage

Amidst increasing worldwide anger over the nation's expanding employment of executions as a means of oppression, the powerfully expressed statement denounces the authorities's ruling to confirm the capital punishment of the athlete.

Vafaei Sani, thirty, from Mashhad in the northeastern region, was detained for participating in nationwide protests in 2019 and charged of aiding an resistance movement. He has passed half a decade in incarceration, where he has been tortured and held in seclusion.

“Sport is designed to inspire hope, solidarity, and fortitude,” the supporters wrote. “The execution of a titleholder for his opinions is a direct assault on these values and a warning to any competitor who ventures to speak out.

Pattern of Killing Competitors

The letter pointed out that the boxer's case was not an isolated one and highlighted Iran’s record of executing competitors for their convictions, for example Habib Khabiri, captain of the national football team, and Fourouzan Abdi, captain of the national women’s volleyball team. In the year 2020, a wrestling champion, a 27-year-old national wrestling champion, was put to death.

Additional endorsers to the statement comprise a sailing champion, who led the inaugural women's squad in a global yacht race and was the pioneering lady to be awarded a prestigious nautical honor; the ex- captain of the Australian football team an athlete; and a footballer, who was in the country's selection for the international competition.

Arrest and Unfair Trial

The boxer was taken into custody in the spring of 2020. The allegations against him comprised “promoting decay on Earth through fire-setting and destruction of public property”. His ruling has been annulled twice but on the fourth of October it was maintained on the latest review. His court case was denounced as “deeply biased” by human rights activists and groups.

Appeal to United Nations

The call to prevent Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment is subsequent to a 2023 appeal to the United Nations official for human rights, signed by in excess of 100 rights specialists and organizations, calling for action to avert the sports figure's death.

Death Penalty Surge

According to findings, there is an “death penalty surge in the country, which has attained shocking dimensions”. In two thousand twenty-three, officials put to death at least 853 people – a nearly half increase on 2022. Last year, statistics showed nine hundred seventy-two deaths, representing the maximum count since 2015. In excess of eight hundred people have been put to death so far in 2025.

Activists and protesters are focus, particularly in the wake of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Specialists say the Iranian authorities have employed the death penalty to quell dissent, instil anxiety among the citizenry and tighten their control on power.