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In excess of two dozen Olympic medal winners, coaches and further world-class competitors have endorsed a statement demanding a end to the capital punishment of a champion boxer and trainer, who is facing execution in the country.

Growing Global Anger

During growing international outrage over the nation's escalating use of the death penalty as a tool of suppression, the strongly worded appeal censures the government's decision to uphold the death sentence of the boxing champion.

The boxer, three decades old, from the city in north-east Iran, was taken into custody for being involved in nationwide protests in two thousand nineteen and charged of aiding an opposition group. He has endured half a decade in prison, where he has been tortured and held in solitary confinement.

“Athletics is meant to promote hope, solidarity, and bravery,” the supporters wrote. “The execution of a winner for his opinions is a direct assault on these ideals and a warning to every athlete who dares to express dissent.

Pattern of Killing Sports Figures

The letter pointed out that Vafaei Sani’s case was not an isolated one and highlighted the country's record of sentencing to death sports champions for their convictions, including Habib Khabiri, leader of the football side, and a women's sports leader, leader of the female volleyball side. In two thousand twenty, a wrestling champion, a young national sports titleholder, was put to death.

Additional supporters to the statement comprise Tracy Edwards, who led the first women's squad in a round-the-world competition and was the first woman to receive a prestigious sailing award; the previous captain of the soccer side Craig Foster; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the country's selection for the global tournament.

Detention and Unjust Proceedings

The athlete was taken into custody in March 2020. The charges against him included “spreading corruption on Earth through fire-setting and destruction of public property”. His ruling has been annulled twice but on the fourth of October it was maintained on the third attempt. His court case was criticized as “highly unjust” by rights defenders and bodies.

Call to International Body

The call to prevent the athlete's capital punishment is subsequent to a earlier statement to the global human rights chief for freedoms, backed by over one hundred human rights experts and organizations, demanding measures to prevent the sports figure's execution.

Execution Crisis

According to reports, there is an “death penalty surge in Iran, which has reached shocking dimensions”. In two thousand twenty-three, authorities executed at least 853 people – a nearly half surge on the previous year. The year before, data showed nearly a thousand executions, representing the maximum count since the year 2015. In excess of eight hundred people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and dissidents are targets, especially in the aftermath of the 2022's uprising. Specialists say the Iranian authorities have used the death penalty to stifle opposition, instil apprehension among the public and reinforce their grip on power.