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Over 20 Olympic medallists, mentors and further global sports figures have signed a statement urging a stop to the execution of a boxing titleholder and instructor, who is sentenced to die in the nation.

Increasing Global Anger

During growing global condemnation over the country's expanding employment of executions as a tool of suppression, the forcefully phrased appeal condemns the Iranian regime's decision to confirm the execution order of the athlete.

The boxer, 30, from Mashhad in the northern province, was arrested for taking part in countrywide demonstrations in two thousand nineteen and accused of backing an opposition group. He has endured 60 months in incarceration, where he has been tortured and held in seclusion.

“Sport is meant to encourage hope, togetherness, and courage,” the supporters wrote. “The capital punishment of a titleholder for his political views is a clear violation on these ideals and a admonition to all sportspeople who dares to speak out.

Pattern of Executing Athletes

The statement said that Vafaei Sani’s situation was part of a pattern and emphasized Iran’s record of executing competitors for their beliefs, for example a football captain, skipper of the soccer squad, and Fourouzan Abdi, skipper of the female volleyball side. In two thousand twenty, an athlete, a young Iranian sports titleholder, faced the death penalty.

Other supporters to the statement comprise Tracy Edwards, who led the pioneering all-female crew in a international sailing event and was the first woman to be awarded a prestigious nautical honor; the previous captain of the national squad an athlete; and a footballer, who was in the Iranian squad for the global tournament.

Arrest and Unfair Trial

The boxer was arrested in March 2020. The accusations against him included “spreading corruption on Earth through incendiarism and damage of state assets”. His verdict has been overturned on two occasions but on 4 October it was upheld on the third occasion. His court case was condemned as “highly unjust” by human rights activists and groups.

Call to International Body

The call to stop Vafaei Sani’s death sentence follows a earlier letter to the global human rights chief for freedoms, endorsed by more than one hundred advocates and entities, calling for intervention to avert the competitor's capital punishment.

Capital Punishment Escalation

Based on reports, there is an “death penalty surge in the country, which has reached shocking dimensions”. In 2023, officials put to death at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a forty-eight percent surge on the previous year. Last year, statistics showed nine hundred seventy-two executions, representing the peak figure since the year 2015. More than eight hundred people have been executed so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and dissidents are targets, particularly in the aftermath of the 2022 uprising. Experts say the Iranian authorities have used the death penalty to quell protest, instil apprehension among the population and tighten their hold on power.