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More than 20 Olympic medal winners, coaches and further international athletes have endorsed a appeal calling for a halt to the death penalty of a boxing titleholder and instructor, who is on death row in the country.

Growing International Outrage

Amid increasing global condemnation over the nation's increasing application of executions as a tool of repression, the strongly worded appeal denounces the government's decision to confirm the death sentence of the boxing champion.

The boxer, thirty, from Mashhad in the northern province, was arrested for taking part in nationwide protests in 2019 and indicted of supporting an dissident organization. He has passed half a decade in detention, where he has been abused and kept in solitary confinement.

“Competition is intended to encourage hope, unity, and bravery,” the endorsers wrote. “The death penalty of a winner for his political views is a blatant attack on these values and a caution to any competitor who ventures to speak out.

History of Killing Sports Figures

The appeal said that the boxer's case was part of a pattern and highlighted the nation's past of executing sports champions for their beliefs, such as a national team leader, captain of the national football team, and a women's sports leader, leader of the women's volleyball squad. In the year 2020, an athlete, a young national competitor, was also executed.

Other endorsers to the appeal comprise Tracy Edwards, who led the pioneering female-only team in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to earn a esteemed nautical honor; the ex- leader of the Australian football team a sports advocate; and a footballer, who was in the country's selection for the 1978 World Cup.

Apprehension and Unjust Proceedings

Vafaei Sani was taken into custody in March 2020. The charges against him comprised “causing deterioration on Earth through incendiarism and destruction of state assets”. His verdict has been overturned on two occasions but on October 4 it was confirmed on the third occasion. His legal proceedings was condemned as “highly unjust” by rights defenders and bodies.

Appeal to United Nations

The urging to halt Vafaei Sani’s execution follows a earlier appeal to the global human rights chief for freedoms, endorsed by over 100 advocates and groups, calling for intervention to avert the competitor's execution.

Death Penalty Surge

According to reports, there is an “execution crisis in Iran, which has achieved shocking levels”. In two thousand twenty-three, authorities sentenced at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a 48% surge on 2022. Last year, records showed nine hundred seventy-two executions, marking the peak figure since the year 2015. More than 800 people have been executed so far in 2025.

Activists and protesters are targets, especially in the aftermath of the 2022's protests. Experts say the Iranian authorities have employed the executions to suppress protest, instil apprehension among the population and tighten their grip on authority.