🔗 Share this article Sports Champions Urge on Iranian Authorities to Halt Death Sentence of Boxing Champion More than two dozen Olympic champions, coaches and further world-class competitors have put their names to a appeal demanding a end to the death penalty of a boxing titleholder and trainer, who is on death row in Iran. Escalating Worldwide Condemnation Amid growing worldwide anger over Iran’s escalating use of executions as a tool of repression, the forcefully phrased statement censures the government's ruling to uphold the capital punishment of the boxing champion. The athlete, 30, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was detained for participating in national uprisings in 2019 and indicted of supporting an resistance movement. He has endured 60 months in detention, where he has been mistreated and held in seclusion. “Athletics is meant to inspire faith, unity, and bravery,” the signatories expressed. “The death penalty of a winner for his opinions is a blatant attack on these values and a warning to all sportspeople who attempts to speak out. Pattern of Putting to Death Athletes The statement noted that the athlete's situation was not an isolated one and emphasized the nation's record of executing athletes for their beliefs, such as a national team leader, skipper of the national football team, and a women's sports leader, leader of the women's volleyball squad. In 2020, a wrestling champion, a 27-year-old Iranian wrestling champion, was put to death. Other supporters to the statement include a sailing champion, who skippered the pioneering all-female crew in a international sailing event and was the initial female to earn a renowned sailing award; the previous captain of the national squad an athlete; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the global tournament. Arrest and Unjust Proceedings The athlete was detained in the spring of 2020. The allegations against him entailed “causing deterioration on Earth through fire-setting and destruction of public property”. His verdict has been overturned on two occasions but on 4 October it was maintained on the third occasion. His trial was condemned as “grossly unfair” by human rights activists and groups. Appeal to United Nations The appeal to stop Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment follows a earlier appeal to the United Nations official for human rights, signed by in excess of a hundred rights specialists and groups, calling for measures to avert the athlete’s capital punishment. Capital Punishment Escalation As per reports, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the country, which has achieved shocking levels”. In the year 2023, officials put to death at least over 850 people – a nearly half increase on 2022. Last year, records showed nine hundred seventy-two capital punishments, representing the highest number since two thousand fifteen. More than eight hundred people have been put to death so far in 2025. Political prisoners and opponents are targets, notably in the aftermath of the 2022's uprising. Experts say the regime have utilized the death penalty to quell opposition, create anxiety among the population and reinforce their hold on authority.