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In excess of twenty Olympic medal winners, mentors and additional world-class competitors have endorsed a statement urging a stop to the execution of a boxing champion and trainer, who is on death row in Iran.

Escalating Worldwide Condemnation

Amidst rising global condemnation over the country's expanding employment of capital punishment as a means of oppression, the strongly worded appeal denounces the government's verdict to uphold the execution order of the boxing champion.

Vafaei Sani, 30, from the city in north-east Iran, was taken into custody for participating in countrywide demonstrations in the year 2019 and indicted of supporting an opposition group. He has endured five years in prison, where he has been mistreated and kept in seclusion.

“Athletics is intended to promote optimism, togetherness, and fortitude,” the supporters stated. “The death penalty of a champion for his beliefs is a clear violation on these principles and a caution to every athlete who dares to voice opinions.

Record of Executing Athletes

The statement said that Vafaei Sani’s situation was not an isolated one and emphasized the country's history of putting to death competitors for their beliefs, including a national team leader, captain of the national football team, and a women's sports leader, skipper of the female volleyball side. In two thousand twenty, a wrestling champion, a 27-year-old Iranian sports titleholder, faced the death penalty.

Other endorsers to the statement consist of a sailing champion, who skippered the first all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the pioneering lady to earn a prestigious sailing award; the ex- captain of the national squad a sports advocate; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the country's selection for the 1978 World Cup.

Detention and Unfair Trial

The boxer was taken into custody in the spring of 2020. The accusations against him comprised “promoting decay on Earth through arson and ruin of government belongings”. His sentence has been annulled on two occasions but on 4 October it was upheld on the third occasion. His legal proceedings was condemned as “grossly unfair” by human rights activists and organizations.

Appeal to International Body

The appeal to prevent the athlete's death sentence is subsequent to a previous appeal to the UN high commissioner for human rights, endorsed by in excess of a hundred rights specialists and entities, calling for intervention to avert the athlete’s capital punishment.

Capital Punishment Escalation

As per data, there is an “capital punishment escalation in Iran, which has achieved alarming proportions”. In two thousand twenty-three, the government executed at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a forty-eight percent surge on 2022. Last year, records showed nearly a thousand deaths, constituting the maximum count since 2015. Over eight hundred people have been put to death so far in 2025.

Dissidents and dissidents are targets, especially in the aftermath of the 2022 demonstrations. Analysts say the Iranian authorities have employed the capital punishment to stifle opposition, generate anxiety among the public and strengthen their control on rule.