🔗 Share this article Elite Athletes Appeal on Iranian Authorities to Stop Execution of Boxing Star Over two dozen Olympic medal winners, mentors and additional international athletes have endorsed a statement calling for a stop to the death penalty of a boxing titleholder and coach, who is on death row in the country. Escalating Worldwide Condemnation Amidst increasing worldwide anger over Iran’s escalating use of executions as a instrument of suppression, the powerfully expressed letter denounces the Iranian regime's verdict to maintain the death sentence of the boxing champion. The athlete, three decades old, from the city in the northern province, was arrested for taking part in nationwide protests in the year 2019 and accused of backing an resistance movement. He has passed five years in prison, where he has been mistreated and confined in solitary confinement. “Competition is meant to promote hope, solidarity, and fortitude,” the supporters wrote. “The capital punishment of a champion for his beliefs is a clear violation on these values and a warning to any competitor who attempts to speak out. Pattern of Putting to Death Athletes The letter noted that the boxer's situation was not an isolated one and underscored Iran’s record of sentencing to death athletes for their convictions, for example a football captain, leader of the football side, and Fourouzan Abdi, captain of the women's volleyball squad. In the year 2020, an athlete, a 27-year Iranian wrestling champion, was also executed. Additional supporters to the letter consist of a yachting pioneer, who skippered the first all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the first woman to be awarded a esteemed yachting trophy; the ex- captain of the Australian football team Craig Foster; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the 1978 World Cup. Detention and Unjust Proceedings The boxer was arrested in the spring of 2020. The charges against him entailed “causing deterioration on Earth through fire-setting and destruction of state assets”. His sentence has been overturned on two occasions but on 4 October it was maintained on the third attempt. His legal proceedings was condemned as “deeply biased” by rights defenders and bodies. Urging to United Nations The urging to prevent the boxer's execution comes after a 2023 statement to the global human rights chief for rights, signed by in excess of 100 human rights experts and groups, calling for intervention to stop the athlete’s capital punishment. Death Penalty Surge As per data, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the country, which has achieved shocking proportions”. In 2023, officials sentenced at least 853 people – a forty-eight percent rise on 2022. In the prior period, statistics showed 972 executions, constituting the highest number since 2015. More than eight hundred people have been sentenced so far in 2025. Political prisoners and dissidents are focus, especially in the aftermath of the 2022's protests. Analysts say the government have used the capital punishment to quell dissent, instil anxiety among the citizenry and reinforce their grip on power.