🔗 Share this article

More than twenty Olympic medallists, trainers and other international athletes have signed a letter urging a end to the execution of a boxing champion and instructor, who is on death row in Iran.

Growing Worldwide Condemnation

Amidst growing global condemnation over the country's increasing application of executions as a means of suppression, the powerfully expressed letter condemns the Iranian regime's verdict to uphold the execution order of the athlete.

The athlete, three decades old, from Mashhad in the northern province, was detained for being involved in national uprisings in the year 2019 and accused of aiding an dissident organization. He has passed 60 months in prison, where he has been tortured and confined in seclusion.

“Competition is intended to promote hope, solidarity, and courage,” the endorsers expressed. “The capital punishment of a winner for his opinions is a clear violation on these principles and a admonition to any competitor who dares to express dissent.

Record of Executing Competitors

The statement pointed out that Vafaei Sani’s case was not an isolated one and underscored the country's past of sentencing to death sports champions for their beliefs, for example Habib Khabiri, skipper of the soccer squad, and Fourouzan Abdi, skipper of the women's volleyball squad. In two thousand twenty, a wrestling champion, a young national sports titleholder, was put to death.

Further endorsers to the letter include a yachting pioneer, who captained the inaugural female-only team in a international sailing event and was the pioneering lady to be awarded a prestigious nautical honor; the previous skipper of the soccer side Craig Foster; and a footballer, who was in the Iranian squad for the international competition.

Apprehension and Unjust Proceedings

The boxer was detained in the spring of 2020. The accusations against him included “causing deterioration on Earth through incendiarism and damage of state assets”. His sentence has been annulled twice but on 4 October it was maintained on the third attempt. His legal proceedings was condemned as “highly unjust” by rights defenders and groups.

Urging to United Nations

The appeal to halt the boxer's death sentence comes after a 2023 statement to the United Nations official for human rights, signed by in excess of 100 advocates and entities, calling for intervention to prevent the competitor's death.

Death Penalty Surge

According to reports, there is an “execution crisis in the country, which has reached horrific proportions”. In 2023, officials executed at least 853 people – a nearly half surge on the previous year. Last year, records showed 972 executions, representing the maximum count since two thousand fifteen. More than eight hundred people have been executed so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and opponents are focus, especially in the aftermath of the 2022's uprising. Experts say the government have utilized the executions to stifle protest, generate anxiety among the citizenry and strengthen their hold on rule.