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More than 20 Olympic medal winners, coaches and additional world-class competitors have signed a appeal urging a halt to the capital punishment of a boxing champion and trainer, who is on death row in the country.

Increasing International Outrage

Amidst increasing worldwide anger over Iran’s escalating use of the death penalty as a means of oppression, the forcefully phrased appeal condemns the government's verdict to maintain the execution order of the boxing champion.

Vafaei Sani, 30, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was arrested for taking part in national uprisings in the year 2019 and accused of backing an dissident organization. He has passed five years in incarceration, where he has been tortured and held in solitary confinement.

“Athletics is designed to promote faith, solidarity, and fortitude,” the endorsers expressed. “The execution of a winner for his political views is a clear violation on these principles and a caution to any competitor who attempts to express dissent.

Pattern of Executing Athletes

The statement said that the boxer's case was not unique and highlighted Iran’s record of putting to death sports champions for their beliefs, including a national team leader, skipper of the football side, and a volleyball captain, leader of the women's volleyball squad. In 2020, an athlete, a young national wrestling champion, was also executed.

Other endorsers to the appeal consist of Tracy Edwards, who skippered the inaugural women's squad in a international sailing event and was the initial female to be awarded a prestigious nautical honor; the former captain of the Australian football team 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 accusations against him entailed “causing deterioration on Earth through incendiarism and destruction of public property”. His verdict has been overturned twice but on October 4 it was confirmed on the third attempt. His trial was denounced as “highly unjust” by advocates and organizations.

Urging to UN

The appeal to halt the boxer's capital punishment comes after a earlier letter to the United Nations official for human rights, backed by in excess of one hundred advocates and groups, urging intervention to stop the athlete’s death.

Death Penalty Surge

Based on findings, there is an “death penalty surge in the country, which has reached horrific proportions”. In 2023, officials executed at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a forty-eight percent increase on the previous year. The year before, records showed nearly a thousand executions, marking the maximum count since the year 2015. In excess of 800 people have been executed so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and dissidents are focus, especially in the wake of the 2022's protests. Specialists say the Iranian authorities have utilized the capital punishment to stifle dissent, generate anxiety among the population and reinforce their hold on rule.