Over two dozen Olympic medallists, mentors and further world-class competitors have signed a statement demanding a end to the death penalty of a champion boxer and coach, who is facing execution in the country.
During growing global condemnation over Iran’s expanding employment of executions as a tool of suppression, the strongly worded appeal denounces the Iranian regime's ruling to uphold the capital punishment of the athlete.
The athlete, three decades old, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was taken into custody for taking part in countrywide demonstrations in 2019 and indicted of aiding an dissident organization. He has passed half a decade in incarceration, where he has been mistreated and kept in solitary confinement.
“Athletics is intended to inspire faith, togetherness, and bravery,” the signatories stated. “The capital punishment of a winner for his beliefs is a blatant attack on these principles and a admonition to every athlete who attempts to express dissent.
The statement said that the athlete's case was part of a pattern and emphasized the nation's past of putting to death athletes for their beliefs, including Habib Khabiri, leader of the soccer squad, and a volleyball captain, captain of the national women’s volleyball team. In 2020, an athlete, a young Iranian wrestling champion, faced the death penalty.
Additional signatories to the appeal include Tracy Edwards, who led the pioneering female-only team in a global yacht race and was the first woman to be awarded a renowned nautical honor; the previous captain of the Australian football team Craig Foster; and a footballer, who was in the national team for the global tournament.
Vafaei Sani was arrested in March 2020. The accusations against him comprised “spreading corruption on Earth through fire-setting and destruction of state assets”. His ruling has been overturned multiple times but on 4 October it was confirmed on the third occasion. His court case was condemned as “grossly unfair” by advocates and organizations.
The call to halt the athlete's capital punishment is subsequent to a 2023 statement to the UN high commissioner for freedoms, backed by in excess of 100 advocates and organizations, calling for action to stop the athlete’s death.
Based on findings, there is an “death penalty surge in the country, which has reached horrific proportions”. In 2023, officials executed at least over 850 people – a nearly half increase on the previous year. The year before, statistics showed nine hundred seventy-two executions, marking the highest number since two thousand fifteen. In excess of eight hundred people have been executed so far in 2025.
Dissidents and opponents are victims, notably in the aftermath of the the year 2022 uprising. Specialists say the regime have used the executions to suppress protest, generate apprehension among the public and strengthen their control on power.
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