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Over twenty Olympic medal winners, coaches and other global sports figures have endorsed a letter urging a stop to the capital punishment of a boxing champion and coach, who is sentenced to die in the country.

Growing Worldwide Condemnation

During rising international outrage over Iran’s expanding employment of capital punishment as a tool of suppression, the forcefully phrased appeal denounces the authorities's verdict to uphold the execution order of the athlete.

Vafaei Sani, 30, from Mashhad in the northern province, was arrested for being involved in countrywide demonstrations in 2019 and charged of backing an opposition group. He has endured half a decade in prison, where he has been mistreated and confined in solitary confinement.

“Sport is designed to inspire hope, solidarity, and courage,” the signatories wrote. “The death penalty of a titleholder for his opinions is a direct assault on these principles and a caution to every athlete who attempts to express dissent.

Record of Killing Athletes

The letter noted that the boxer's case was part of a pattern and emphasized the country's record of executing sports champions for their beliefs, such as a national team leader, skipper of the soccer squad, and Fourouzan Abdi, captain of the women's volleyball squad. In the year 2020, Navid Afkari, a 27-year-old national competitor, was put to death.

Further supporters to the statement consist of a yachting pioneer, who led the first women's squad in a international sailing event and was the initial female to receive a renowned yachting trophy; the ex- leader of the Australian football team Craig Foster; and a footballer, who was in the country's selection for the global tournament.

Apprehension and Unjust Proceedings

The athlete was detained in the spring of 2020. The charges against him comprised “causing deterioration on Earth through incendiarism and ruin of government belongings”. His ruling has been annulled on two occasions but on 4 October it was upheld on the third occasion. His legal proceedings was criticized as “grossly unfair” by advocates and groups.

Appeal to International Body

The appeal to prevent the athlete's death sentence follows a 2023 appeal to the global human rights chief for freedoms, backed by in excess of one hundred advocates and groups, urging action to avert the sports figure's death.

Capital Punishment Escalation

As per data, there is an “capital punishment escalation in Iran, which has reached shocking levels”. In 2023, officials executed at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a nearly half rise on the previous year. Last year, records showed nearly a thousand executions, representing the maximum count since 2015. More than 800 people have been executed so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and protesters are focus, especially in the wake of the 2022's protests. Experts say the regime have used the executions to stifle protest, create anxiety among the citizenry and reinforce their control on authority.