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Over 20 Olympic medal winners, trainers and further world-class competitors have signed a appeal urging a stop to the capital punishment of a champion boxer and instructor, who is on death row in Iran.

Escalating Global Anger

Amid growing international outrage over Iran’s escalating use of capital punishment as a means of suppression, the strongly worded appeal denounces the authorities's verdict to confirm the death sentence of the athlete.

The athlete, 30, from the city in the northern province, was arrested for participating in countrywide demonstrations in 2019 and accused of supporting an opposition group. He has endured five years in incarceration, where he has been abused and confined in solitary confinement.

“Athletics is meant to encourage optimism, unity, and fortitude,” the signatories stated. “The capital punishment of a champion for his opinions is a blatant attack on these principles and a admonition to any competitor who attempts to voice opinions.

Record of Killing Athletes

The letter said that the boxer's case was not an isolated one and emphasized the nation's history of executing competitors for their views, such as Habib Khabiri, leader of the football side, and a volleyball captain, leader of the national women’s volleyball team. In the year 2020, an athlete, a 27-year national sports titleholder, was also executed.

Further supporters to the appeal comprise a sailing champion, who skippered the first women's squad in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to receive a esteemed nautical honor; the ex- captain of the soccer side a sports advocate; and a sports figure, who was in the country's selection for the 1978 World Cup.

Detention and Unjust Proceedings

The athlete was taken into custody in the spring of 2020. The charges against him included “promoting decay on Earth through incendiarism and destruction of government belongings”. His verdict has been overturned on two occasions but on 4 October it was upheld on the latest review. His court case was criticized as “deeply biased” by rights defenders and bodies.

Appeal to International Body

The urging to halt the boxer's execution follows a earlier appeal to the UN high commissioner for human rights, signed by over one hundred rights specialists and organizations, demanding intervention to avert the competitor's capital punishment.

Capital Punishment Escalation

According to findings, there is an “death penalty surge in the country, which has reached shocking dimensions”. In two thousand twenty-three, the government sentenced at least over 850 people – a forty-eight percent surge on 2022. Last year, statistics showed nearly a thousand deaths, marking the peak figure since the year 2015. More than eight hundred people have been executed so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and dissidents are focus, particularly in the aftermath of the 2022 demonstrations. Analysts say the Iranian authorities have employed the death penalty to stifle dissent, create fear among the public and tighten their hold on rule.