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Over two dozen Olympic medallists, coaches and other world-class competitors have put their names to a letter urging a stop to the execution of a champion boxer and coach, who is facing execution in Iran.

Escalating International Outrage

Amid rising worldwide anger over the country's escalating use of the death penalty as a tool of oppression, the strongly worded appeal condemns the Iranian regime's verdict to confirm the execution order of the athlete.

The athlete, 30, from Mashhad in the northeastern region, was taken into custody for being involved in nationwide protests in two thousand nineteen and charged of backing an dissident organization. He has spent five years in detention, where he has been tortured and kept in solitary confinement.

“Athletics is designed to promote optimism, solidarity, and bravery,” the signatories wrote. “The execution of a champion for his beliefs is a clear violation on these principles and a warning to all sportspeople who attempts to express dissent.

Record of Putting to Death Competitors

The statement noted that Vafaei Sani’s case was not an isolated one and highlighted the country's past of executing athletes for their convictions, including Habib Khabiri, skipper of the football side, and a volleyball captain, captain of the national women’s volleyball team. In two thousand twenty, an athlete, a young Iranian sports titleholder, was also executed.

Further endorsers to the statement comprise a sailing champion, who skippered the first women's squad in a international sailing event and was the first woman to receive a renowned nautical honor; the previous captain of the national squad an athlete; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the national team for the international competition.

Detention and Unjust Proceedings

The boxer was taken into custody in March 2020. The charges against him included “causing deterioration on Earth through arson and damage of government belongings”. His verdict has been overturned twice but on 4 October it was confirmed on the latest review. His court case was condemned as “deeply biased” by advocates and bodies.

Appeal to International Body

The urging to stop the athlete's execution is subsequent to a previous letter to the UN high commissioner for rights, signed by more than a hundred human rights experts and organizations, urging intervention to avert the sports figure's capital punishment.

Capital Punishment Escalation

According to findings, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the nation, which has reached alarming proportions”. In 2023, officials executed at least 853 people – a forty-eight percent rise on the previous year. In the prior period, data showed nearly a thousand executions, marking the peak figure since 2015. Over 800 people have been executed so far in 2025.

Activists and protesters are victims, particularly in the wake of the the year 2022 uprising. Analysts say the government have used the death penalty to stifle opposition, instil anxiety among the public and tighten their control on power.