🔗 Share this article Sports Champions Call on Iranian Authorities to Stop Execution of Champion Boxer More than twenty Olympic medal winners, mentors and additional global sports figures have signed a letter urging a end to the execution of a boxing titleholder and coach, who is sentenced to die in the country. Increasing Global Anger Amidst rising international outrage over the country's increasing application of executions as a instrument of repression, the powerfully expressed appeal denounces the Iranian regime's decision to maintain the execution order of the athlete. Vafaei Sani, thirty, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was detained for taking part in countrywide demonstrations in two thousand nineteen and indicted of backing an dissident organization. He has passed 60 months in incarceration, where he has been abused and confined in isolation. “Sport is intended to promote optimism, unity, and fortitude,” the supporters wrote. “The capital punishment of a winner for his beliefs is a direct assault on these values and a warning to any competitor who ventures to voice opinions. Record of Putting to Death Competitors The statement said that Vafaei Sani’s case was not unique and highlighted the country's past of executing sports champions for their views, including a football captain, skipper of the football side, and a women's sports leader, captain of the female volleyball side. In the year 2020, an athlete, a 27-year-old national wrestling champion, faced the death penalty. Other signatories to the letter consist of a yachting pioneer, who captained the first female-only team in a global yacht race and was the initial female to be awarded a prestigious yachting trophy; the previous captain of the Australian football team Craig Foster; and a footballer, who was in the Iranian squad for the global tournament. Apprehension and Unfair Trial Vafaei Sani was taken into custody in the spring of 2020. The allegations against him comprised “promoting decay on Earth through incendiarism and destruction of state assets”. His ruling has been overturned multiple times but on 4 October it was maintained on the latest review. His legal proceedings was criticized as “grossly unfair” by rights defenders and groups. Call to UN The call to stop the athlete's execution comes after a previous appeal to the UN high commissioner for freedoms, endorsed by in excess of 100 human rights experts and organizations, urging intervention to prevent the competitor's death. Capital Punishment Escalation Based on findings, there is an “execution crisis in the country, which has reached alarming dimensions”. In the year 2023, authorities put to death at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a forty-eight percent surge on 2022. Last year, data showed nine hundred seventy-two capital punishments, marking the maximum count since 2015. More than 800 people have been put to death so far in 2025. Dissidents and protesters are targets, especially in the wake of the 2022's uprising. Experts say the regime have employed the death penalty to suppress dissent, instil anxiety among the citizenry and strengthen their control on power.