🔗 Share this article Olympians Urge on Iranian Authorities to Stop Execution of Boxing Star More than 20 Olympic champions, coaches and further global sports figures have put their names to a letter calling for a stop to the death penalty of a boxing champion and coach, who is on death row in the nation. Increasing Worldwide Condemnation Amid growing worldwide anger over the country's increasing application of executions as a tool of suppression, the forcefully phrased appeal condemns the authorities's ruling to confirm the execution order of the boxing champion. Vafaei Sani, thirty, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was arrested for being involved in national uprisings in 2019 and charged of backing an dissident organization. He has spent five years in detention, where he has been abused and confined in solitary confinement. “Athletics is designed to inspire hope, solidarity, and fortitude,” the supporters wrote. “The death penalty of a winner for his beliefs is a direct assault on these values and a warning to every athlete who attempts to speak out. Record of Killing Athletes The letter pointed out that Vafaei Sani’s case was not an isolated one and underscored the country's record of sentencing to death athletes for their beliefs, such as a football captain, captain of the football side, and a volleyball captain, leader of the women's volleyball squad. In 2020, a wrestling champion, a 27-year national wrestling champion, faced the death penalty. Additional endorsers to the statement include Tracy Edwards, who captained the pioneering women's squad in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to be awarded a esteemed yachting trophy; the ex- leader of the Australian football team an athlete; and a footballer, who was in the national team for the international competition. Detention and Flawed Legal Process The athlete was detained in the spring of 2020. The charges against him entailed “promoting decay on Earth through incendiarism and ruin of public property”. His sentence has been annulled on two occasions but on the fourth of October it was upheld on the latest review. His legal proceedings was condemned as “highly unjust” by human rights activists and organizations. Appeal to International Body The appeal to prevent Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment is subsequent to a previous appeal to the United Nations official for human rights, endorsed by over one hundred human rights experts and organizations, demanding measures to prevent the sports figure's death. Execution Crisis According to data, there is an “execution crisis in the country, which has achieved alarming dimensions”. In the year 2023, authorities put to death at least over 850 people – a nearly half increase on 2022. In the prior period, records showed nine hundred seventy-two capital punishments, marking the maximum count since two thousand fifteen. In excess of 800 people have been executed so far in 2025. Activists and opponents are focus, particularly in the aftermath of the 2022's uprising. Analysts say the Iranian authorities have employed the death penalty to quell opposition, instil anxiety among the citizenry and strengthen their hold on authority.