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More than two dozen Olympic champions, coaches and other world-class competitors have signed a statement urging a halt to the death penalty of a boxing champion and coach, who is sentenced to die in the country.

Increasing Worldwide Condemnation

During growing international outrage over the country's expanding employment of capital punishment as a tool of repression, the strongly worded letter censures the authorities's verdict to maintain the capital punishment of the athlete.

The athlete, 30, from the city in the northern province, was arrested for taking part in countrywide demonstrations in two thousand nineteen and charged of backing an dissident organization. He has spent half a decade in incarceration, where he has been tortured and kept in isolation.

“Sport is intended to inspire faith, solidarity, and bravery,” the supporters expressed. “The death penalty of a champion for his opinions is a direct assault on these principles and a warning to every athlete who attempts to voice opinions.

Pattern of Executing Competitors

The statement noted that the athlete's situation was not an isolated one and underscored Iran’s past of sentencing to death athletes for their convictions, for example Habib Khabiri, skipper of the national football team, and Fourouzan Abdi, skipper of the national women’s volleyball team. In the year 2020, a wrestling champion, a young national wrestling champion, was put to death.

Other signatories to the letter comprise a yachting pioneer, who skippered the inaugural female-only team in a international sailing event and was the first woman to earn a renowned nautical honor; the previous skipper of the Australian football team a sports advocate; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the international competition.

Apprehension and Flawed Legal Process

Vafaei Sani was taken into custody in March 2020. The charges against him included “promoting decay on Earth through fire-setting and ruin of state assets”. His verdict has been overturned twice but on the fourth of October it was maintained on the latest review. His court case was criticized as “grossly unfair” by rights defenders and organizations.

Urging to International Body

The appeal to halt Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment follows a 2023 appeal to the global human rights chief for rights, endorsed by in excess of one hundred human rights experts and entities, urging measures to stop the sports figure's execution.

Execution Crisis

As per reports, there is an “death penalty surge in the country, which has achieved shocking levels”. In the year 2023, officials put to death at least 853 people – a forty-eight percent increase on 2022. In the prior period, records showed nine hundred seventy-two executions, marking the maximum count since the year 2015. More than 800 people have been executed so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and dissidents are focus, especially in the aftermath of the 2022 protests. Experts say the government have employed the executions to stifle dissent, instil apprehension among the public and strengthen their control on authority.