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In excess of two dozen Olympic champions, coaches and other global sports figures have endorsed a statement urging a end to the execution of a boxing titleholder and trainer, who is sentenced to die in Iran.

Increasing International Outrage

Amidst increasing worldwide anger over Iran’s expanding employment of capital punishment as a instrument of oppression, the forcefully phrased appeal denounces the government's verdict to maintain the execution order of the boxing champion.

The boxer, thirty, from Mashhad in the northern province, was arrested for being involved in national uprisings in 2019 and charged of aiding an opposition group. He has spent five years in incarceration, where he has been mistreated and held in solitary confinement.

“Competition is meant to encourage faith, solidarity, and fortitude,” the supporters expressed. “The capital punishment of a titleholder for his political views is a blatant attack on these values and a warning to all sportspeople who ventures to speak out.

Record of Executing Athletes

The appeal pointed out that Vafaei Sani’s circumstances was not an isolated one and highlighted the nation's past of sentencing to death sports champions for their beliefs, for example Habib Khabiri, leader of the football side, and a volleyball captain, skipper of the national women’s volleyball team. In 2020, Navid Afkari, a young Iranian sports titleholder, was also executed.

Additional signatories to the statement consist of a yachting pioneer, who captained the inaugural female-only team in a international sailing event and was the pioneering lady to receive a prestigious yachting trophy; the former skipper of the national squad Craig Foster; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the global tournament.

Arrest and Unjust Proceedings

Vafaei Sani was arrested in early 2020. The accusations against him comprised “spreading corruption on Earth through fire-setting and damage of state assets”. His verdict has been reversed on two occasions but on October 4 it was confirmed on the third occasion. His court case was criticized as “deeply biased” by advocates and organizations.

Urging to United Nations

The urging to prevent Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment is subsequent to a previous letter to the United Nations official for freedoms, signed by more than one hundred human rights experts and organizations, urging intervention to prevent the sports figure's capital punishment.

Capital Punishment Escalation

As per data, there is an “death penalty surge in Iran, which has attained alarming levels”. In 2023, the government put to death at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a 48% surge on 2022. The year before, data showed 972 deaths, constituting the peak figure since 2015. Over 800 people have been sentenced so far in the current year.

Activists and opponents are targets, particularly in the aftermath of the 2022 demonstrations. Experts say the government have employed the death penalty to suppress dissent, create anxiety among the citizenry and reinforce their control on authority.