🔗 Share this article Elite Athletes Appeal on Iranian Authorities to Prevent Execution of Boxing Champion In excess of twenty Olympic medallists, coaches and further world-class competitors have signed a appeal urging a halt to the execution of a boxing titleholder and instructor, who is on death row in the nation. Growing International Outrage Amid rising global condemnation over the country's escalating use of the death penalty as a tool of repression, the powerfully expressed statement censures the authorities's ruling to confirm the capital punishment of the boxing champion. The boxer, three decades old, from the city in the northeastern region, was detained for participating in nationwide protests in 2019 and charged of backing an resistance movement. He has spent five years in prison, where he has been tortured and confined in isolation. “Sport is designed to encourage optimism, solidarity, and courage,” the endorsers wrote. “The death penalty of a winner for his political views is a direct assault on these principles and a admonition to all sportspeople who dares to express dissent. History of Executing Athletes The appeal noted that the athlete's case was part of a pattern and highlighted the nation's history of putting to death competitors for their views, such as a national team leader, skipper of the football side, and a volleyball captain, skipper of the national women’s volleyball team. In 2020, Navid Afkari, a 27-year national competitor, was put to death. Additional supporters to the appeal include a sailing champion, who skippered the first female-only team in a international sailing event and was the first woman to be awarded a prestigious nautical honor; the former skipper of the soccer side Craig Foster; and a sports figure, who was in the country's selection for the global tournament. Detention and Unfair Trial The athlete was detained in early 2020. The allegations against him included “causing deterioration on Earth through fire-setting and damage of public property”. His verdict has been reversed on two occasions but on 4 October it was upheld on the third occasion. His trial was criticized as “grossly unfair” by human rights activists and organizations. Call to UN The urging to halt the athlete's execution comes after a previous appeal to the United Nations official for freedoms, backed by more than a hundred advocates and groups, urging measures to avert the athlete’s capital punishment. Death Penalty Surge According to data, there is an “execution crisis in Iran, which has reached shocking dimensions”. In the year 2023, the government executed at least 853 people – a forty-eight percent rise on the previous year. In the prior period, data showed 972 capital punishments, representing the maximum count since two thousand fifteen. In excess of eight hundred people have been executed so far in 2025. Dissidents and protesters are targets, especially in the aftermath of the 2022's demonstrations. Analysts say the government have used the capital punishment to suppress protest, create apprehension among the citizenry and strengthen their hold on authority.