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In excess of two dozen Olympic medallists, trainers and further international athletes have endorsed a appeal calling for a halt to the capital punishment of a boxing champion and instructor, who is on death row in the nation.

Growing Global Anger

Amidst increasing global condemnation over the nation's expanding employment of capital punishment as a tool of suppression, the strongly worded statement censures the Iranian regime's verdict to maintain the execution order of the athlete.

The boxer, 30, from the city in the northeastern region, was arrested for being involved in nationwide protests in two thousand nineteen and indicted of supporting an resistance movement. He has spent 60 months in incarceration, where he has been mistreated and confined in solitary confinement.

“Competition is meant to promote faith, unity, and courage,” the signatories wrote. “The capital punishment of a winner for his opinions is a clear violation on these principles and a caution to all sportspeople who dares to express dissent.

History of Executing Sports Figures

The statement pointed out that Vafaei Sani’s case was not unique and highlighted Iran’s history of putting to death competitors for their convictions, including Habib Khabiri, skipper of the national football team, and Fourouzan Abdi, skipper of the women's volleyball squad. In the year 2020, an athlete, a 27-year national competitor, faced the death penalty.

Further supporters to the appeal comprise a sailing champion, who captained the first female-only team in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to earn a esteemed yachting trophy; the previous leader of the national squad 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 charges against him included “promoting decay on Earth through incendiarism and ruin of state assets”. His sentence has been reversed multiple times but on 4 October it was upheld on the latest review. His trial was denounced as “grossly unfair” by rights defenders and organizations.

Call to International Body

The appeal to prevent Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment comes after a previous statement to the global human rights chief for freedoms, signed by in excess of 100 advocates and organizations, demanding action to prevent the competitor's capital punishment.

Death Penalty Surge

According to reports, there is an “execution crisis in the nation, which has achieved alarming dimensions”. In two thousand twenty-three, officials put to death at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a 48% surge on 2022. In the prior period, data showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, marking the peak figure since two thousand fifteen. More than hundreds of people have been executed so far in 2025.

Activists and protesters are victims, notably in the wake of the the year 2022 uprising. Experts say the Iranian authorities have employed the executions to suppress dissent, create apprehension among the population and tighten their grip on authority.