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More than two dozen Olympic medal winners, coaches and further world-class competitors have endorsed a statement demanding a halt to the capital punishment of a champion boxer and instructor, who is facing execution in the country.

Escalating Global Anger

Amidst rising global condemnation over the nation's escalating use of the death penalty as a means of repression, the forcefully phrased appeal denounces the Iranian regime's ruling to maintain the execution order of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The athlete, three decades old, from the city in the northern province, was detained for being involved in national uprisings in the year 2019 and charged of backing an opposition group. He has endured 60 months in detention, where he has been abused and held in seclusion.

“Sport is intended to promote hope, solidarity, and fortitude,” the signatories stated. “The death penalty of a champion for his beliefs is a blatant attack on these values and a caution to any competitor who attempts to speak out.

Pattern of Killing Sports Figures

The statement noted that Vafaei Sani’s situation was not an isolated one and highlighted the nation's past of sentencing to death athletes for their views, for example a national team leader, leader of the soccer squad, and a volleyball captain, skipper of the female volleyball side. In the year 2020, a wrestling champion, a young Iranian competitor, faced the death penalty.

Other signatories to the statement comprise a sailing champion, who led the pioneering female-only team in a global yacht race and was the initial female to earn a renowned nautical honor; the ex- captain of the soccer side a sports advocate; and a sports figure, who was in the country's selection for the 1978 World Cup.

Apprehension and Flawed Legal Process

The athlete was arrested in early 2020. The charges against him comprised “promoting decay on Earth through arson and damage of state assets”. His ruling has been overturned multiple times but on October 4 it was upheld on the third attempt. His trial was denounced as “deeply biased” by rights defenders and bodies.

Call to UN

The call to stop the athlete's capital punishment is subsequent to a previous statement to the United Nations official for freedoms, signed by over a hundred human rights experts and groups, urging action to stop the sports figure's capital punishment.

Death Penalty Surge

As per findings, there is an “execution crisis in the country, which has achieved alarming proportions”. In 2023, officials executed at least 853 people – a 48% increase on 2022. In the prior period, records showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, marking the peak figure since 2015. Over hundreds of people have been executed so far in the current year.

Political prisoners and opponents are targets, notably in the wake of the 2022 uprising. Experts say the regime have employed the executions to quell dissent, generate anxiety among the public and reinforce their control on authority.