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Over 20 Olympic medal winners, coaches and additional world-class competitors have put their names to a statement urging a halt to the execution of a boxing titleholder and trainer, who is sentenced to die in the nation.

Escalating Worldwide Condemnation

During growing worldwide anger over Iran’s escalating use of executions as a tool of suppression, the powerfully expressed statement condemns the authorities's ruling to uphold the death sentence of the athlete.

The athlete, three decades old, from the city in north-east Iran, was arrested for participating in countrywide demonstrations in the year 2019 and accused of supporting an resistance movement. He has endured five years in detention, where he has been tortured and held in seclusion.

“Athletics is intended to inspire faith, unity, and bravery,” the endorsers stated. “The capital punishment of a winner for his political views is a clear violation on these principles and a warning to every athlete who attempts to speak out.

Pattern of Killing Athletes

The statement pointed out that Vafaei Sani’s situation was not unique and emphasized the country's past of sentencing to death athletes for their convictions, for example Habib Khabiri, leader of the football side, and a volleyball captain, leader of the women's volleyball squad. In 2020, a wrestling champion, a 27-year national wrestling champion, was put to death.

Further endorsers to the statement include a yachting pioneer, who skippered the pioneering women's squad in a global yacht race and was the initial female to receive a renowned sailing award; the former skipper of the Australian football team an athlete; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the country's selection for the 1978 World Cup.

Apprehension and Flawed Legal Process

Vafaei Sani was arrested in early 2020. The accusations against him included “causing deterioration on Earth through arson and damage of government belongings”. His sentence has been annulled multiple times but on the fourth of October it was upheld on the third attempt. His legal proceedings was criticized as “highly unjust” by advocates and organizations.

Urging to UN

The call to stop the athlete's capital punishment is subsequent to a previous letter to the United Nations official for freedoms, backed by over 100 rights specialists and groups, urging measures to avert the competitor's execution.

Capital Punishment Escalation

As per data, there is an “execution crisis in the nation, which has achieved alarming proportions”. In the year 2023, officials executed at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a forty-eight percent increase on 2022. Last year, records showed nearly a thousand deaths, marking the peak figure since 2015. More than eight hundred people have been executed so far in 2025.

Activists and opponents are victims, notably in the wake of the 2022's demonstrations. Experts say the government have employed the capital punishment to stifle protest, create apprehension among the population and strengthen their control on authority.