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More than 20 Olympic medal winners, trainers and further world-class competitors have signed a statement urging a halt to the death penalty of a champion boxer and instructor, who is on death row in Iran.

Increasing Worldwide Condemnation

During increasing worldwide anger over the nation's escalating use of executions as a instrument of oppression, the forcefully phrased appeal condemns the authorities's decision to maintain the execution order of the athlete.

The boxer, 30, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was detained for participating in national uprisings in the year 2019 and accused of aiding an dissident organization. He has spent five years in incarceration, where he has been mistreated and held in solitary confinement.

“Sport is intended to inspire faith, unity, and bravery,” the signatories wrote. “The execution of a champion for his opinions is a clear violation on these ideals and a caution to every athlete who ventures to express dissent.

Pattern of Putting to Death Athletes

The statement noted that Vafaei Sani’s case was not an isolated one and highlighted the country's past of sentencing to death athletes for their convictions, including a football captain, captain of the football side, and a volleyball captain, leader of the national women’s volleyball team. In the year 2020, a wrestling champion, a 27-year-old national wrestling champion, was also executed.

Other endorsers to the letter consist of Tracy Edwards, who captained the first all-female crew in a global yacht race and was the first woman to earn a prestigious nautical honor; the ex- skipper of the soccer side an athlete; and a footballer, who was in the Iranian squad for the international competition.

Detention and Flawed Legal Process

The athlete was taken into custody in early 2020. The allegations against him comprised “promoting decay on Earth through incendiarism and ruin of public property”. His sentence has been overturned on two occasions but on 4 October it was maintained on the third attempt. His court case was condemned as “deeply biased” by rights defenders and organizations.

Appeal to UN

The urging to halt Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment comes after a earlier statement to the United Nations official for rights, backed by more than one hundred human rights experts and entities, demanding intervention to stop the athlete’s death.

Capital Punishment Escalation

As per findings, there is an “capital punishment escalation in Iran, which has attained horrific dimensions”. In 2023, officials executed at least over 850 people – a nearly half surge on 2022. Last year, records showed nine hundred seventy-two deaths, constituting the maximum count since the year 2015. More than 800 people have been executed so far in 2025.

Activists and opponents are focus, particularly in the aftermath of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Analysts say the Iranian authorities have utilized the executions to quell protest, instil apprehension among the public and strengthen their hold on authority.