🔗 Share this article Elite Athletes Call on Iranian Authorities to Prevent Death Sentence of Champion Boxer In excess of twenty Olympic medal winners, coaches and other international athletes have signed a appeal demanding a halt to the death penalty of a champion boxer and coach, who is sentenced to die in Iran. Growing International Outrage Amid increasing worldwide anger over the country's increasing application of the death penalty as a instrument of suppression, the powerfully expressed appeal censures the Iranian regime's verdict to confirm the execution order of the athlete. The boxer, thirty, from the city in the northeastern region, was arrested for being involved in national uprisings in the year 2019 and accused of supporting an opposition group. He has spent five years in prison, where he has been tortured and kept in seclusion. “Sport is meant to encourage hope, unity, and fortitude,” the supporters wrote. “The death penalty of a champion for his opinions is a direct assault on these values and a warning to every athlete who attempts to express dissent. History of Executing Sports Figures The statement noted that the boxer's situation was part of a pattern and emphasized Iran’s history of executing sports champions for their beliefs, including a football captain, skipper of the football side, and a women's sports leader, leader of the national women’s volleyball team. In the year 2020, a wrestling champion, a 27-year national competitor, faced the death penalty. Additional supporters to the letter consist of a yachting pioneer, who captained the pioneering women's squad in a international sailing event and was the first woman to receive a esteemed yachting trophy; the previous leader of the Australian football team a sports advocate; and a footballer, who was in the national team for the international competition. Detention and Unfair Trial The boxer was detained in the spring of 2020. The charges against him included “spreading corruption on Earth through fire-setting and damage of public property”. His verdict has been overturned on two occasions but on October 4 it was confirmed on the third occasion. His trial was denounced as “highly unjust” by rights defenders and groups. Urging to UN The call to halt the boxer's capital punishment comes after a earlier letter to the global human rights chief for freedoms, endorsed by more than a hundred advocates and groups, calling for measures to avert the sports figure's execution. Execution Crisis According to reports, there is an “execution crisis in Iran, which has reached shocking levels”. In two thousand twenty-three, authorities executed at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a forty-eight percent rise on 2022. The year before, statistics showed nearly a thousand deaths, marking the peak figure since 2015. More than eight hundred people have been put to death so far in 2025. Political prisoners and protesters are victims, especially in the wake of the the year 2022 protests. Experts say the Iranian authorities have used the capital punishment to stifle dissent, generate fear among the population and strengthen their hold on rule.