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More than twenty Olympic champions, trainers and additional international athletes have signed a appeal demanding a stop to the death penalty of a boxing titleholder and trainer, who is sentenced to die in the country.

Growing Global Anger

During increasing global condemnation over the country's expanding employment of executions as a tool of repression, the strongly worded appeal censures the authorities's verdict to maintain the capital punishment of the athlete.

The boxer, thirty, from Mashhad in the northern province, was taken into custody for participating in countrywide demonstrations in the year 2019 and indicted of backing an resistance movement. He has passed five years in incarceration, where he has been abused and kept in isolation.

“Sport is intended to promote hope, unity, and fortitude,” the signatories wrote. “The capital punishment of a titleholder for his opinions is a clear violation on these ideals and a caution to any competitor who dares to voice opinions.

Record of Putting to Death Athletes

The statement noted that Vafaei Sani’s circumstances was not unique and highlighted the nation's history of putting to death competitors for their convictions, for example a football captain, captain of the national football team, and a volleyball captain, leader of the women's volleyball squad. In 2020, a wrestling champion, a 27-year national competitor, was put to death.

Other supporters to the letter include a sailing champion, who captained the first all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to earn a esteemed yachting trophy; the ex- captain of the soccer side a sports advocate; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the international competition.

Arrest and Flawed Legal Process

Vafaei Sani was arrested in the spring of 2020. The accusations against him comprised “causing deterioration on Earth through arson and damage of public property”. His verdict has been reversed multiple times but on the fourth of October it was confirmed on the third attempt. His trial was condemned as “deeply biased” by rights defenders and organizations.

Urging to International Body

The appeal to prevent Vafaei Sani’s execution follows a previous statement to the UN high commissioner for freedoms, backed by more than one hundred advocates and groups, demanding intervention to prevent the competitor's execution.

Death Penalty Surge

As per reports, there is an “execution crisis in Iran, which has achieved shocking levels”. In two thousand twenty-three, the government put to death at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a forty-eight percent surge on 2022. The year before, data showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, constituting the highest number since the year 2015. Over 800 people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Activists and opponents are victims, notably in the aftermath of the the year 2022 uprising. Experts say the regime have utilized the capital punishment to stifle protest, instil fear among the public and strengthen their control on authority.