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More than 20 Olympic medal winners, trainers and additional global sports figures have endorsed a statement calling for a stop to the execution of a boxing titleholder and trainer, who is sentenced to die in the nation.

Growing Worldwide Condemnation

Amid growing global condemnation over the country's expanding employment of capital punishment as a tool of repression, the powerfully expressed appeal condemns the government's decision to maintain the capital punishment of the athlete.

Vafaei Sani, three decades old, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was arrested for taking part in countrywide demonstrations in two thousand nineteen and accused of aiding an dissident organization. He has endured 60 months in prison, where he has been tortured and kept in seclusion.

“Competition is intended to inspire hope, solidarity, and fortitude,” the endorsers expressed. “The execution of a winner for his political views is a blatant attack on these values and a caution to every athlete who dares to express dissent.

Record of Putting to Death Athletes

The statement noted that the athlete's situation was part of a pattern and highlighted the country's past of putting to death sports champions for their convictions, for example Habib Khabiri, skipper of the national football team, and a volleyball captain, skipper of the women's volleyball squad. In two thousand twenty, a wrestling champion, a young Iranian sports titleholder, was also executed.

Additional signatories to the statement comprise Tracy Edwards, who captained the first female-only team in a global yacht race and was the initial female to be awarded a renowned nautical honor; the previous captain of the soccer side an athlete; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the global tournament.

Detention and Unjust Proceedings

The athlete was detained in March 2020. The allegations against him comprised “causing deterioration on Earth through fire-setting and ruin of state assets”. His ruling has been reversed on two occasions but on October 4 it was confirmed on the latest review. His court case was condemned as “grossly unfair” by rights defenders and groups.

Call to International Body

The appeal to prevent Vafaei Sani’s death sentence is subsequent to a previous letter to the United Nations official for freedoms, signed by more than a hundred advocates and groups, demanding measures to stop the competitor's death.

Death Penalty Surge

According to data, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the country, which has attained shocking proportions”. In 2023, the government executed at least over 850 people – a nearly half surge on 2022. The year before, records showed nearly a thousand deaths, constituting the highest number since the year 2015. In excess of 800 people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Activists and dissidents are targets, notably in the wake of the 2022's uprising. Specialists say the government have employed the death penalty to quell opposition, generate anxiety among the citizenry and strengthen their hold on power.