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More than twenty Olympic medal winners, coaches and additional international athletes have endorsed a letter urging a stop to the execution of a boxing champion and trainer, who is on death row in Iran.

Growing Worldwide Condemnation

During rising international outrage over Iran’s increasing application of executions as a means of suppression, the powerfully expressed statement censures the government's verdict to maintain the execution order of the boxing champion.

Vafaei Sani, 30, from the city in the northern province, was taken into custody for participating in national uprisings in 2019 and accused of supporting an resistance movement. He has passed five years in prison, where he has been tortured and held in solitary confinement.

“Sport is meant to promote optimism, unity, and fortitude,” the supporters stated. “The capital punishment of a winner for his opinions is a direct assault on these principles and a caution to every athlete who attempts to speak out.

Record of Executing Competitors

The letter noted that Vafaei Sani’s circumstances was not an isolated one and emphasized Iran’s past of sentencing to death athletes for their views, for example Habib Khabiri, leader of the soccer squad, and a volleyball captain, skipper of the national women’s volleyball team. In 2020, an athlete, a 27-year national wrestling champion, faced the death penalty.

Further signatories to the statement consist of Tracy Edwards, who skippered the pioneering female-only team in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to earn a esteemed yachting trophy; the former captain of the Australian football team a sports advocate; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the national team for the global tournament.

Detention and Flawed Legal Process

Vafaei Sani was detained in the spring of 2020. The allegations against him included “promoting decay on Earth through incendiarism and ruin of government belongings”. His sentence has been annulled on two occasions but on October 4 it was maintained on the third attempt. His court case was criticized as “deeply biased” by human rights activists and bodies.

Urging to International Body

The appeal to prevent the boxer's capital punishment comes after a earlier statement to the global human rights chief for freedoms, endorsed by in excess of one hundred human rights experts and entities, demanding intervention to avert the sports figure's death.

Capital Punishment Escalation

As per data, there is an “execution crisis in Iran, which has reached shocking levels”. In the year 2023, the government executed at least 853 people – a 48% rise on the previous year. Last year, records showed 972 capital punishments, constituting the highest number since the year 2015. More than hundreds of people have been put to death so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and opponents are targets, especially in the aftermath of the 2022's demonstrations. Specialists say the government have employed the death penalty to quell protest, generate apprehension among the public and reinforce their grip on rule.