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In excess of 20 Olympic champions, trainers and further global sports figures have put their names to a statement demanding a end to the death penalty of a boxing champion and trainer, who is on death row in the country.

Escalating Global Anger

Amidst growing global condemnation over the nation's escalating use of the death penalty as a instrument of oppression, the strongly worded statement denounces the government's decision to confirm the death sentence of the athlete.

The athlete, 30, from Mashhad in the northeastern region, was taken into custody for being involved in countrywide demonstrations in two thousand nineteen and charged of supporting an resistance movement. He has passed 60 months in incarceration, where he has been abused and confined in solitary confinement.

“Sport is meant to encourage faith, unity, and fortitude,” the endorsers wrote. “The execution of a winner for his opinions is a direct assault on these principles and a caution to any competitor who attempts to voice opinions.

Record of Putting to Death Competitors

The letter said that the athlete's circumstances was not an isolated one and highlighted the country's past of putting to death athletes for their beliefs, including Habib Khabiri, leader of the soccer squad, and Fourouzan Abdi, skipper of the women's volleyball squad. In the year 2020, a wrestling champion, a young Iranian sports titleholder, faced the death penalty.

Additional endorsers to the letter comprise a sailing champion, who captained the pioneering all-female crew in a international sailing event and was the first woman to be awarded a prestigious nautical honor; the former leader of the soccer side an athlete; and a sports figure, who was in the national team for the 1978 World Cup.

Apprehension and Flawed Legal Process

The athlete was arrested in the spring of 2020. The allegations against him entailed “promoting decay on Earth through arson and damage of state assets”. His verdict has been overturned twice but on October 4 it was upheld on the latest review. His court case was criticized as “highly unjust” by advocates and organizations.

Urging to United Nations

The appeal to stop Vafaei Sani’s death sentence comes after a 2023 appeal to the United Nations official for human rights, signed by in excess of 100 human rights experts and groups, demanding intervention to avert the athlete’s execution.

Death Penalty Surge

Based on reports, there is an “execution crisis in the country, which has attained alarming proportions”. In the year 2023, officials sentenced at least over 850 people – a nearly half rise on the previous year. Last year, records showed nine hundred seventy-two executions, constituting the peak figure since 2015. More than hundreds of people have been executed so far in 2025.

Dissidents and protesters are targets, particularly in the aftermath of the 2022's protests. Analysts say the regime have employed the death penalty to stifle dissent, instil anxiety among the citizenry and reinforce their grip on power.