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More than 20 Olympic medal winners, coaches and further world-class competitors have signed a appeal calling for a stop to the death penalty of a boxing champion and coach, who is facing execution in the nation.

Increasing Worldwide Condemnation

Amid increasing global condemnation over the nation's escalating use of executions as a instrument of suppression, the powerfully expressed appeal censures the authorities's verdict to uphold the execution order of the boxing champion.

Vafaei Sani, three decades old, from Mashhad in the northeastern region, was taken into custody for participating in countrywide demonstrations in the year 2019 and charged of supporting an opposition group. He has passed 60 months in incarceration, where he has been mistreated and held in seclusion.

“Sport is intended to encourage faith, unity, and courage,” the endorsers expressed. “The execution of a winner for his opinions is a blatant attack on these ideals and a admonition to all sportspeople who attempts to speak out.

Record of Putting to Death Competitors

The letter pointed out that Vafaei Sani’s situation was not an isolated one and highlighted the nation's past of executing competitors for their views, such as a national team leader, leader of the football side, and a women's sports leader, captain of the female volleyball side. In two thousand twenty, an athlete, a 27-year-old Iranian wrestling champion, was also executed.

Additional supporters to the letter include Tracy Edwards, who captained the inaugural all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the pioneering lady to be awarded a esteemed sailing award; the former leader of the Australian football team Craig Foster; and a footballer, who was in the national team for the 1978 World Cup.

Detention and Unfair Trial

Vafaei Sani was taken into custody in March 2020. The charges against him comprised “spreading corruption on Earth through fire-setting and damage of government belongings”. His sentence has been reversed on two occasions but on 4 October it was confirmed on the third attempt. His trial was criticized as “deeply biased” by rights defenders and bodies.

Call to International Body

The appeal to stop Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment comes after a previous statement to the UN high commissioner for freedoms, signed by in excess of one hundred advocates and groups, urging measures to avert the sports figure's capital punishment.

Death Penalty Surge

Based on reports, there is an “execution crisis in Iran, which has reached horrific dimensions”. In the year 2023, the government executed at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a nearly half increase on the previous year. The year before, statistics showed nine hundred seventy-two deaths, marking the highest number since two thousand fifteen. Over eight hundred people have been executed so far in 2025.

Activists and opponents are targets, especially in the wake of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Experts say the regime have used the death penalty to suppress opposition, generate anxiety among the public and reinforce their grip on rule.