🔗 Share this article

In excess of two dozen Olympic medallists, coaches and other world-class competitors have endorsed a appeal urging a stop to the capital punishment of a boxing champion and instructor, who is on death row in Iran.

Escalating Global Anger

Amid rising international outrage over the country's expanding employment of executions as a means of oppression, the forcefully phrased appeal condemns the authorities's decision to uphold the capital punishment of the athlete.

The athlete, three decades old, from the city in north-east Iran, was arrested for participating in countrywide demonstrations in two thousand nineteen and indicted of backing an resistance movement. He has passed five years in incarceration, where he has been abused and held in seclusion.

“Athletics is designed to promote faith, solidarity, and courage,” the endorsers stated. “The execution of a titleholder for his beliefs is a clear violation on these values and a caution to all sportspeople who ventures to speak out.

History of Executing Competitors

The statement pointed out that the athlete's situation was not an isolated one and underscored Iran’s record of putting to death sports champions for their views, for example Habib Khabiri, skipper of the soccer squad, and Fourouzan Abdi, skipper of the female volleyball side. In two thousand twenty, a wrestling champion, a 27-year-old Iranian sports titleholder, was put to death.

Further endorsers to the statement consist of Tracy Edwards, who skippered the inaugural female-only team in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to earn a renowned nautical honor; the previous skipper of the soccer side a sports advocate; and a sports figure, who was in the country's selection for the global tournament.

Apprehension and Flawed Legal Process

Vafaei Sani was detained in the spring of 2020. The allegations against him included “causing deterioration on Earth through incendiarism and destruction of public property”. His sentence has been annulled on two occasions but on October 4 it was upheld on the third occasion. His trial was denounced as “grossly unfair” by rights defenders and bodies.

Urging to United Nations

The urging to prevent the boxer's execution comes after a earlier statement to the United Nations official for human rights, backed by over one hundred rights specialists and groups, demanding measures to prevent the sports figure's death.

Execution Crisis

Based on data, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the country, which has attained horrific proportions”. In 2023, the government put to death at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a 48% increase on 2022. In the prior period, records showed 972 capital punishments, constituting the peak figure since the year 2015. More than 800 people have been executed so far in 2025.

Activists and dissidents are focus, notably in the wake of the 2022 demonstrations. Experts say the government have used the capital punishment to stifle opposition, create apprehension among the population and tighten their hold on authority.