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In excess of twenty Olympic medal winners, coaches and other international athletes have signed a statement calling for a stop to the death penalty of a champion boxer and trainer, who is facing execution in the country.

Growing International Outrage

During growing international outrage over Iran’s escalating use of executions as a means of suppression, the strongly worded statement denounces the Iranian regime's decision to confirm the execution order of the boxing champion.

The athlete, three decades old, from the city in north-east Iran, was taken into custody for being involved in countrywide demonstrations in two thousand nineteen and charged of aiding an opposition group. He has endured five years in prison, where he has been tortured and held in solitary confinement.

“Competition is intended to encourage hope, solidarity, and fortitude,” the endorsers stated. “The execution of a champion for his political views is a clear violation on these principles and a caution to all sportspeople who ventures to speak out.

Record of Executing Athletes

The letter noted that the athlete's case was not unique and emphasized the nation's history of executing sports champions for their beliefs, for example a national team leader, leader of the soccer squad, and a women's sports leader, skipper of the national women’s volleyball team. In two thousand twenty, a wrestling champion, a 27-year Iranian competitor, was put to death.

Additional supporters to the statement consist of a sailing champion, who skippered the first all-female crew in a global yacht race and was the first woman to earn a renowned yachting trophy; the former skipper of the Australian football team a sports advocate; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the 1978 World Cup.

Apprehension and Unfair Trial

The boxer was detained in early 2020. The accusations against him included “causing deterioration on Earth through incendiarism and ruin of public property”. His verdict has been reversed twice but on the fourth of October it was upheld on the third occasion. His trial was denounced as “highly unjust” by rights defenders and groups.

Call to International Body

The urging to stop the athlete's death sentence comes after a 2023 statement to the United Nations official for rights, backed by over 100 rights specialists and organizations, urging intervention to avert the sports figure's capital punishment.

Capital Punishment Escalation

According to data, there is an “death penalty surge in the nation, which has reached horrific dimensions”. In the year 2023, officials sentenced at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a forty-eight percent surge on 2022. The year before, records showed nine hundred seventy-two executions, representing the highest number since 2015. Over eight hundred people have been executed so far in 2025.

Dissidents and dissidents are focus, especially in the aftermath of the 2022's protests. Specialists say the Iranian authorities have utilized the capital punishment to quell dissent, instil apprehension among the population and strengthen their grip on rule.