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In excess of twenty Olympic medal winners, coaches and other international athletes have signed a statement urging a end to the capital punishment of a boxing titleholder and coach, who is on death row in Iran.

Escalating Global Anger

Amid increasing global condemnation over Iran’s escalating use of executions as a tool of suppression, the powerfully expressed letter denounces the authorities's verdict to confirm the execution order of the athlete.

Vafaei Sani, three decades old, from the city in the northern province, was taken into custody for being involved in national uprisings in 2019 and charged of backing an resistance movement. He has passed half a decade in prison, where he has been abused and held in isolation.

“Sport is meant to inspire optimism, unity, and fortitude,” the signatories wrote. “The capital punishment of a titleholder for his beliefs is a clear violation on these ideals and a warning to every athlete who attempts to voice opinions.

History of Killing Athletes

The statement pointed out that the boxer's situation was part of a pattern and emphasized Iran’s history of putting to death sports champions for their beliefs, such as a national team leader, captain of the football side, and a women's sports leader, skipper of the national women’s volleyball team. In the year 2020, a wrestling champion, a 27-year national wrestling champion, was also executed.

Further signatories to the letter include Tracy Edwards, who captained the pioneering all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the pioneering lady to earn a prestigious sailing award; the previous skipper of the soccer side an athlete; and a sports figure, who was in the country's selection for the 1978 World Cup.

Arrest and Unfair Trial

Vafaei Sani was detained in the spring of 2020. The accusations against him comprised “spreading corruption on Earth through arson and destruction of government belongings”. His sentence has been annulled twice but on October 4 it was maintained on the latest review. His legal proceedings was denounced as “deeply biased” by rights defenders and groups.

Appeal to UN

The call to halt Vafaei Sani’s death sentence is subsequent to a previous statement to the UN high commissioner for rights, endorsed by more than one hundred rights specialists and organizations, urging measures to stop the sports figure's execution.

Death Penalty Surge

Based on data, there is an “capital punishment escalation in Iran, which has achieved shocking dimensions”. In the year 2023, officials sentenced at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a nearly half surge on 2022. The year before, statistics showed 972 capital punishments, constituting the maximum count since two thousand fifteen. In excess of hundreds of people have been sentenced so far in the current year.

Political prisoners and protesters are targets, especially in the aftermath of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Experts say the Iranian authorities have employed the death penalty to suppress protest, create apprehension among the public and tighten their hold on rule.