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Over twenty Olympic champions, coaches and further global sports figures have endorsed a letter calling for a stop to the capital punishment of a boxing titleholder and trainer, who is on death row in Iran.

Escalating International Outrage

During increasing worldwide anger over Iran’s increasing application of capital punishment as a tool of suppression, the forcefully phrased statement censures the government's decision to uphold the death sentence of the boxing champion.

Vafaei Sani, thirty, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was arrested for taking part in countrywide demonstrations in two thousand nineteen and indicted of backing an resistance movement. He has passed half a decade in incarceration, where he has been mistreated and kept in seclusion.

“Sport is intended to encourage hope, togetherness, and fortitude,” the endorsers stated. “The death penalty of a winner for his opinions is a blatant attack on these principles and a warning to every athlete who dares to voice opinions.

History of Executing Athletes

The letter said that Vafaei Sani’s situation was not unique and highlighted the nation's record of sentencing to death athletes for their beliefs, for example a national team leader, captain of the football side, and Fourouzan Abdi, captain of the women's volleyball squad. In the year 2020, an athlete, a 27-year national wrestling champion, was also executed.

Further endorsers to the letter comprise a yachting pioneer, who skippered the first female-only team in a international sailing event and was the initial female to receive a esteemed sailing award; the previous leader of the national squad an athlete; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the international competition.

Arrest and Unjust Proceedings

Vafaei Sani was taken into custody in the spring of 2020. The allegations against him comprised “promoting decay on Earth through incendiarism and destruction of government belongings”. His ruling has been reversed twice but on the fourth of October it was maintained on the latest review. His court case was denounced as “highly unjust” by advocates and organizations.

Call to International Body

The urging to stop the boxer's death sentence is subsequent to a earlier letter to the global human rights chief for rights, backed by over a hundred advocates and entities, demanding measures to prevent the competitor's death.

Capital Punishment Escalation

As per reports, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the country, which has reached shocking levels”. In 2023, the government put to death at least 853 people – a forty-eight percent rise on the previous year. Last year, statistics showed nine hundred seventy-two capital punishments, representing the peak figure since two thousand fifteen. More than hundreds of people have been put to death so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and protesters are focus, particularly in the aftermath of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Specialists say the regime have employed the capital punishment to suppress dissent, create anxiety among the population and tighten their grip on power.