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In excess of 20 Olympic medal winners, mentors and other world-class competitors have signed a letter calling for a stop to the death penalty of a champion boxer and trainer, who is sentenced to die in Iran.

Growing Global Anger

Amid growing worldwide anger over Iran’s expanding employment of the death penalty as a instrument of repression, the forcefully phrased statement censures the authorities's decision to uphold the capital punishment of the boxing champion.

The athlete, thirty, from Mashhad in the northeastern region, was taken into custody for participating in countrywide demonstrations in the year 2019 and accused of supporting an resistance movement. He has endured half a decade in prison, where he has been mistreated and held in seclusion.

“Sport is meant to inspire optimism, togetherness, and courage,” the signatories stated. “The execution of a winner for his political views is a direct assault on these ideals and a caution to every athlete who attempts to speak out.

History of Executing Competitors

The statement pointed out that Vafaei Sani’s circumstances was not an isolated one and emphasized Iran’s history of sentencing to death sports champions for their views, such as Habib Khabiri, captain of the national football team, and a women's sports leader, leader of the national women’s volleyball team. In the year 2020, a wrestling champion, a young Iranian sports titleholder, was also executed.

Further endorsers to the appeal comprise Tracy Edwards, who led the inaugural female-only team in a international sailing event and was the pioneering lady to be awarded a prestigious nautical honor; the former captain of the soccer side an athlete; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the 1978 World Cup.

Arrest and Unfair Trial

Vafaei Sani was taken into custody in the spring of 2020. The accusations against him comprised “causing deterioration on Earth through incendiarism and destruction of government belongings”. His sentence has been annulled multiple times but on the fourth of October it was confirmed on the third occasion. His legal proceedings was condemned as “highly unjust” by rights defenders and organizations.

Call to United Nations

The appeal to halt Vafaei Sani’s execution comes after a previous letter to the United Nations official for freedoms, endorsed by more than one hundred advocates and entities, urging measures to avert the athlete’s death.

Death Penalty Surge

Based on findings, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the nation, which has attained alarming levels”. In the year 2023, authorities sentenced at least over 850 people – a nearly half surge on the previous year. In the prior period, records showed nearly a thousand executions, representing the maximum count since 2015. More than hundreds of people have been executed so far in 2025.

Dissidents and opponents are targets, particularly in the wake of the 2022's protests. Experts say the regime have employed the capital punishment to stifle dissent, instil fear among the public and reinforce their control on rule.