🔗 Share this article

More than 20 Olympic medallists, mentors and further world-class competitors have put their names to a appeal urging a halt to the execution of a boxing champion and instructor, who is sentenced to die in the nation.

Escalating Worldwide Condemnation

During rising international outrage over the nation's increasing application of executions as a tool of suppression, the strongly worded letter denounces the government's ruling to confirm the execution order of the athlete.

Vafaei Sani, 30, from Mashhad in the northern province, was detained for being involved in countrywide demonstrations in 2019 and charged of aiding an resistance movement. He has spent half a decade in prison, where he has been mistreated and kept in seclusion.

“Sport is intended to encourage hope, unity, and bravery,” the supporters stated. “The death penalty of a winner for his political views is a direct assault on these ideals and a admonition to all sportspeople who attempts to express dissent.

Record of Executing Competitors

The statement noted that the athlete's case was not unique and highlighted Iran’s record of executing sports champions for their beliefs, including a national team leader, captain of the national football team, and a volleyball captain, captain of the female volleyball side. In the year 2020, Navid Afkari, a young national competitor, was also executed.

Other supporters to the statement include a sailing champion, who skippered the pioneering female-only team in a global yacht race and was the first woman to earn a esteemed yachting trophy; the former captain of the soccer side Craig Foster; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the national team for the 1978 World Cup.

Detention and Flawed Legal Process

The boxer was taken into custody in the spring of 2020. The allegations against him entailed “promoting decay on Earth through arson and damage of government belongings”. His verdict has been annulled multiple times but on 4 October it was confirmed on the latest review. His legal proceedings was condemned as “highly unjust” by advocates and bodies.

Call to UN

The call to halt the athlete's death sentence follows a 2023 statement to the global human rights chief for rights, backed by more than 100 rights specialists and groups, calling for intervention to stop the athlete’s capital punishment.

Capital Punishment Escalation

Based on reports, there is an “execution crisis in the nation, which has attained horrific proportions”. In 2023, the government put to death at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a 48% rise on the previous year. The year before, statistics showed nine hundred seventy-two capital punishments, marking the highest number since two thousand fifteen. More than 800 people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and dissidents are focus, particularly in the aftermath of the 2022 protests. Analysts say the Iranian authorities have utilized the death penalty to quell opposition, generate anxiety among the public and tighten their hold on rule.