🔗 Share this article

In excess of twenty Olympic champions, coaches and further global sports figures have endorsed a appeal demanding a halt to the execution of a boxing titleholder and instructor, who is on death row in the nation.

Increasing Global Anger

Amidst increasing worldwide anger over the country's escalating use of executions as a means of suppression, the strongly worded statement condemns the Iranian regime's verdict to uphold the capital punishment of the boxing champion.

The boxer, 30, from Mashhad in the northern province, was arrested for participating in nationwide protests in two thousand nineteen and charged of backing an dissident organization. He has endured half a decade in prison, where he has been mistreated and held in solitary confinement.

“Athletics is designed to inspire faith, unity, and bravery,” the endorsers stated. “The capital punishment of a titleholder for his beliefs is a blatant attack on these principles and a warning to all sportspeople who ventures to express dissent.

Record of Killing Sports Figures

The letter noted that Vafaei Sani’s situation was part of a pattern and highlighted the country's record of sentencing to death competitors for their beliefs, including a football captain, leader of the national football team, and a volleyball captain, leader of the female volleyball side. In the year 2020, Navid Afkari, a young Iranian sports titleholder, was also executed.

Additional endorsers to the appeal comprise a sailing champion, who captained the inaugural all-female crew in a international sailing event and was the initial female to earn a prestigious sailing award; the ex- leader of the national squad Craig Foster; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the global tournament.

Apprehension and Unjust Proceedings

The athlete was arrested in early 2020. The allegations against him entailed “spreading corruption on Earth through arson and ruin of government belongings”. His verdict has been overturned multiple times but on the fourth of October it was maintained on the third occasion. His court case was condemned as “highly unjust” by advocates and organizations.

Urging to UN

The urging to prevent Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment follows a earlier appeal to the global human rights chief for freedoms, signed by more than a hundred rights specialists and groups, calling for action to avert the sports figure's death.

Capital Punishment Escalation

As per data, there is an “death penalty surge in the nation, which has reached alarming levels”. In 2023, authorities executed at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a nearly half increase on 2022. Last year, data showed 972 capital punishments, representing the maximum count since the year 2015. Over hundreds of people have been executed so far in 2025.

Activists and dissidents are focus, especially in the aftermath of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Experts say the government have used the capital punishment to quell protest, generate apprehension among the public and strengthen their grip on power.