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In excess of twenty Olympic medal winners, trainers and further world-class competitors have put their names to a statement calling for a stop to the capital punishment of a champion boxer and instructor, who is on death row in Iran.

Increasing Worldwide Condemnation

Amidst growing worldwide anger over Iran’s escalating use of executions as a tool of oppression, the strongly worded letter denounces the government's ruling to uphold the capital punishment of the boxing champion.

Vafaei Sani, 30, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was detained for being involved in national uprisings in two thousand nineteen and charged of backing an opposition group. He has spent 60 months in prison, where he has been abused and held in seclusion.

“Sport is intended to promote hope, togetherness, and courage,” the signatories stated. “The execution of a titleholder for his opinions is a clear violation on these values and a caution to every athlete who dares to speak out.

Pattern of Executing Athletes

The statement pointed out that Vafaei Sani’s circumstances was part of a pattern and highlighted the nation's record of executing competitors for their convictions, including Habib Khabiri, skipper of the football side, and Fourouzan Abdi, skipper of the female volleyball side. In the year 2020, Navid Afkari, a 27-year Iranian wrestling champion, was put to death.

Additional signatories to the statement comprise a sailing champion, who led the first female-only team in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to receive a esteemed yachting trophy; the ex- skipper of the Australian football team Craig Foster; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the international competition.

Detention and Flawed Legal Process

The athlete was detained in the spring of 2020. The allegations against him included “promoting decay on Earth through arson and ruin of government belongings”. His sentence has been reversed twice but on 4 October it was confirmed on the latest review. His trial was criticized as “deeply biased” by rights defenders and bodies.

Appeal to United Nations

The urging to prevent Vafaei Sani’s execution is subsequent to a previous statement to the global human rights chief for rights, backed by more than 100 rights specialists and groups, calling for action to avert the athlete’s death.

Execution Crisis

According to data, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the nation, which has reached alarming proportions”. In two thousand twenty-three, officials put to death at least 853 people – a forty-eight percent rise on 2022. The year before, data showed 972 capital punishments, marking the highest number since 2015. More than hundreds of people have been executed so far in the current year.

Political prisoners and dissidents are targets, notably in the aftermath of the 2022 uprising. Analysts say the government have utilized the capital punishment to quell protest, generate apprehension among the population and strengthen their hold on power.