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Over 20 Olympic medallists, mentors and additional global sports figures have endorsed a letter calling for a end to the death penalty of a boxing titleholder and trainer, who is on death row in Iran.

Growing International Outrage

Amid increasing international outrage over Iran’s increasing application of executions as a instrument of repression, the forcefully phrased appeal denounces the authorities's verdict to maintain the death sentence of the boxing champion.

The athlete, three decades old, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was detained for being involved in nationwide protests in the year 2019 and accused of backing an dissident organization. He has passed half a decade in incarceration, where he has been mistreated and kept in solitary confinement.

“Sport is intended to promote hope, solidarity, and bravery,” the signatories stated. “The capital punishment of a champion for his beliefs is a direct assault on these principles and a caution to all sportspeople who ventures to voice opinions.

History of Killing Sports Figures

The appeal noted that the boxer's circumstances was not an isolated one and emphasized Iran’s record of sentencing to death athletes for their convictions, including a football captain, skipper of the soccer squad, and a volleyball captain, skipper of the women's volleyball squad. In the year 2020, an athlete, a young national competitor, faced the death penalty.

Additional endorsers to the statement comprise a sailing champion, who captained the first women's squad in a global yacht race and was the first woman to be awarded a esteemed sailing award; the previous leader of the soccer side a sports advocate; and a sports figure, who was in the national team for the international competition.

Apprehension and Unjust Proceedings

The athlete was taken into custody in March 2020. The charges against him entailed “promoting decay on Earth through fire-setting and damage of government belongings”. His verdict has been annulled on two occasions but on the fourth of October it was maintained on the third attempt. His trial was criticized as “grossly unfair” by rights defenders and bodies.

Call to International Body

The urging to prevent the boxer's capital punishment is subsequent to a earlier letter to the United Nations official for freedoms, endorsed by over a hundred rights specialists and organizations, calling for intervention to avert the competitor's capital punishment.

Capital Punishment Escalation

As per reports, there is an “execution crisis in Iran, which has achieved alarming proportions”. In 2023, the government sentenced at least 853 people – a 48% surge on 2022. The year before, data showed nine hundred seventy-two deaths, representing the highest number since two thousand fifteen. More than eight hundred people have been executed so far in 2025.

Activists and protesters are victims, especially in the wake of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Specialists say the regime have used the executions to stifle dissent, instil fear among the population and reinforce their control on rule.