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More than twenty Olympic champions, mentors and additional international athletes have endorsed a appeal urging a halt to the death penalty of a champion boxer and trainer, who is sentenced to die in the country.

Growing Worldwide Condemnation

Amidst increasing worldwide anger over Iran’s escalating use of capital punishment as a means of repression, the forcefully phrased statement denounces the Iranian regime's verdict to maintain the death sentence of the boxing champion.

The boxer, 30, from Mashhad in the northern province, was detained for being involved in national uprisings in two thousand nineteen and charged of supporting an resistance movement. He has passed half a decade in detention, where he has been tortured and held in seclusion.

“Athletics is designed to inspire hope, togetherness, and bravery,” the signatories expressed. “The capital punishment of a winner for his beliefs is a direct assault on these ideals and a admonition to every athlete who ventures to speak out.

History of Killing Sports Figures

The statement said that the boxer's circumstances was not an isolated one and emphasized Iran’s record of sentencing to death sports champions for their beliefs, for example a national team leader, leader of the soccer squad, and a women's sports leader, captain of the women's volleyball squad. In 2020, Navid Afkari, a 27-year national wrestling champion, was also executed.

Additional supporters to the statement include a sailing champion, who skippered the pioneering women's squad in a global yacht race and was the pioneering lady to be awarded a prestigious sailing award; the former leader of the national squad Craig Foster; and a footballer, who was in the country's selection for the global tournament.

Detention and Unjust Proceedings

Vafaei Sani was arrested in early 2020. The accusations against him entailed “causing deterioration on Earth through arson and damage of government belongings”. His sentence has been reversed twice but on October 4 it was maintained on the third occasion. His court case was denounced as “highly unjust” by human rights activists and groups.

Appeal to UN

The appeal to prevent Vafaei Sani’s death sentence is subsequent to a 2023 appeal to the UN high commissioner for rights, signed by more than one hundred advocates and groups, calling for measures to avert the sports figure's death.

Execution Crisis

According to reports, there is an “death penalty surge in Iran, which has achieved alarming levels”. In two thousand twenty-three, the government executed at least over 850 people – a nearly half rise on 2022. The year before, statistics showed nearly a thousand executions, representing the peak figure since two thousand fifteen. In excess of eight hundred people have been put to death so far in 2025.

Dissidents and opponents are targets, notably in the aftermath of the the year 2022 protests. Experts say the government have used the death penalty to stifle opposition, create anxiety among the population and tighten their grip on power.