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More than two dozen Olympic medallists, coaches and further international athletes have put their names to a statement calling for a end to the death penalty of a boxing champion and coach, who is facing execution in Iran.

Increasing International Outrage

During growing international outrage over the country's expanding employment of executions as a tool of oppression, the powerfully expressed statement denounces the authorities's decision to confirm the execution order of the boxing champion.

The boxer, 30, from the city in north-east Iran, was arrested for participating in countrywide demonstrations in two thousand nineteen and indicted of supporting an resistance movement. He has spent half a decade in prison, where he has been tortured and kept in solitary confinement.

“Sport is designed to promote hope, unity, and courage,” the endorsers stated. “The capital punishment of a titleholder for his opinions is a direct assault on these ideals and a warning to all sportspeople who ventures to speak out.

Record of Executing Sports Figures

The appeal said that the athlete's case was not unique and underscored the nation's history of executing competitors for their views, such as a national team leader, leader of the national football team, and a women's sports leader, leader of the national women’s volleyball team. In the year 2020, a wrestling champion, a young national wrestling champion, was also executed.

Other supporters to the appeal include Tracy Edwards, who led the inaugural all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to earn a renowned sailing award; the previous captain of the Australian football team Craig Foster; and a footballer, who was in the country's selection for the global tournament.

Arrest and Flawed Legal Process

The boxer was arrested in early 2020. The charges against him comprised “promoting decay on Earth through arson and ruin of state assets”. His sentence has been overturned on two occasions but on October 4 it was maintained on the third occasion. His legal proceedings was criticized as “deeply biased” by advocates and groups.

Urging to UN

The call to halt Vafaei Sani’s execution follows a 2023 letter to the UN high commissioner for freedoms, signed by more than one hundred rights specialists and groups, calling for measures to avert the sports figure's capital punishment.

Death Penalty Surge

Based on data, there is an “death penalty surge in Iran, which has achieved alarming proportions”. In 2023, officials sentenced at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a forty-eight percent increase on 2022. Last year, data showed 972 capital punishments, marking the highest number since two thousand fifteen. More than eight hundred people have been sentenced so far in the current year.

Political prisoners and dissidents are targets, particularly in the aftermath of the 2022 protests. Experts say the Iranian authorities have employed the capital punishment to quell dissent, create fear among the citizenry and strengthen their control on power.