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Over twenty Olympic champions, coaches and other world-class competitors have signed a letter urging a stop to the capital punishment of a boxing champion and instructor, who is facing execution in the nation.

Escalating Worldwide Condemnation

Amid rising international outrage over the nation's escalating use of executions as a means of oppression, the forcefully phrased appeal denounces the authorities's verdict to maintain the execution order of the boxing champion.

Vafaei Sani, 30, from the city in north-east Iran, was taken into custody for participating in nationwide protests in two thousand nineteen and charged of supporting an resistance movement. He has spent half a decade in prison, where he has been tortured and kept in solitary confinement.

“Competition is intended to inspire faith, solidarity, and courage,” the endorsers expressed. “The death penalty of a champion for his opinions is a blatant attack on these principles and a warning to all sportspeople who dares to speak out.

Pattern of Killing Athletes

The letter noted that the boxer's circumstances was not unique and highlighted Iran’s history of sentencing to death sports champions for their beliefs, including a football captain, skipper of the national football team, and Fourouzan Abdi, skipper of the female volleyball side. In the year 2020, Navid Afkari, a 27-year national sports titleholder, was also executed.

Other supporters to the statement comprise a sailing champion, who led the inaugural female-only team in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to earn a renowned sailing award; the former leader of the Australian football team Craig Foster; and a sports figure, who was in the national team for the 1978 World Cup.

Detention and Unfair Trial

The athlete was detained in early 2020. The allegations against him comprised “causing deterioration on Earth through fire-setting and destruction of state assets”. His sentence has been annulled multiple times but on the fourth of October it was confirmed on the third occasion. His court case was denounced as “grossly unfair” by rights defenders and bodies.

Urging to UN

The appeal to stop the boxer's execution comes after a 2023 letter to the United Nations official for rights, endorsed by over 100 rights specialists and groups, calling for measures to prevent the competitor's death.

Execution Crisis

Based on reports, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the nation, which has attained alarming dimensions”. In 2023, the government executed at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a nearly half increase on 2022. The year before, data showed nine hundred seventy-two deaths, marking the highest number since the year 2015. More than 800 people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Dissidents and opponents are targets, notably in the wake of the the year 2022 protests. Specialists say the Iranian authorities have used the death penalty to stifle opposition, generate anxiety among the public and tighten their control on authority.