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In excess of two dozen Olympic medal winners, coaches and further global sports figures have put their names to a appeal demanding a stop to the death penalty of a boxing titleholder and trainer, who is on death row in Iran.

Escalating International Outrage

Amidst increasing international outrage over the country's increasing application of the death penalty as a means of oppression, the strongly worded appeal censures the government's decision to confirm the execution order of the boxing champion.

The boxer, three decades old, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was detained for taking part in countrywide demonstrations in the year 2019 and charged of aiding an dissident organization. He has endured 60 months in incarceration, where he has been mistreated and held in seclusion.

“Athletics is meant to encourage faith, unity, and fortitude,” the signatories expressed. “The execution of a titleholder for his beliefs is a blatant attack on these values and a warning to all sportspeople who dares to speak out.

History of Killing Athletes

The letter said that the athlete's case was part of a pattern and underscored Iran’s past of sentencing to death sports champions for their views, including a national team leader, captain of the national football team, and a women's sports leader, skipper of the female volleyball side. In two thousand twenty, an athlete, a young national sports titleholder, was put to death.

Other endorsers to the appeal consist of a yachting pioneer, who led the inaugural all-female crew in a global yacht race and was the pioneering lady to be awarded a prestigious nautical honor; the previous captain of the national squad a sports advocate; and a footballer, who was in the national team for the 1978 World Cup.

Arrest and Unfair Trial

The boxer was detained in early 2020. The allegations against him entailed “promoting decay on Earth through incendiarism and ruin of government belongings”. His sentence has been reversed on two occasions but on October 4 it was upheld on the latest review. His court case was denounced as “highly unjust” by rights defenders and organizations.

Appeal to International Body

The appeal to prevent Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment comes after a earlier letter to the United Nations official for human rights, endorsed by in excess of one hundred rights specialists and groups, demanding action to avert the sports figure's execution.

Death Penalty Surge

According to reports, there is an “execution crisis in the country, which has reached horrific levels”. In 2023, authorities executed at least over 850 people – a nearly half rise on 2022. The year before, statistics showed 972 capital punishments, marking the highest number since two thousand fifteen. More than hundreds of people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and opponents are focus, particularly in the aftermath of the the year 2022 protests. Analysts say the Iranian authorities have used the executions to quell dissent, generate apprehension among the public and reinforce their grip on authority.