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In excess of two dozen Olympic medallists, mentors and further world-class competitors have put their names to a statement calling for a halt to the execution of a boxing champion and coach, who is on death row in the nation.

Escalating Worldwide Condemnation

Amid rising global condemnation over the nation's escalating use of the death penalty as a tool of oppression, the powerfully expressed statement censures the government's verdict to confirm the capital punishment of the athlete.

The athlete, three decades old, from Mashhad in the northern province, was arrested for participating in national uprisings in 2019 and indicted of supporting an resistance movement. He has spent half a decade in incarceration, where he has been mistreated and held in isolation.

“Athletics is meant to encourage optimism, togetherness, and courage,” the supporters expressed. “The capital punishment of a champion for his political views is a direct assault on these values and a admonition to any competitor who ventures to express dissent.

History of Putting to Death Athletes

The appeal said that the boxer's situation was not an isolated one and underscored Iran’s past of putting to death athletes for their views, including a national team leader, captain of the national football team, and Fourouzan Abdi, skipper of the national women’s volleyball team. In 2020, an athlete, a 27-year-old Iranian wrestling champion, was also executed.

Additional signatories to the statement consist of a yachting pioneer, who led the pioneering all-female crew in a international sailing event and was the initial female to receive a renowned nautical honor; the former captain of the Australian football team an athlete; and a sports figure, who was in the national team for the 1978 World Cup.

Detention and Flawed Legal Process

The boxer was detained in early 2020. The charges against him entailed “spreading corruption on Earth through fire-setting and ruin of government belongings”. His ruling has been overturned multiple times but on the fourth of October it was confirmed on the third attempt. His trial was denounced as “grossly unfair” by advocates and bodies.

Urging to United Nations

The appeal to prevent the boxer's death sentence follows a 2023 letter to the global human rights chief for rights, signed by over 100 human rights experts and organizations, urging intervention to avert the sports figure's death.

Capital Punishment Escalation

Based on findings, there is an “death penalty surge in Iran, which has achieved horrific levels”. In 2023, the government executed at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a forty-eight percent rise on the previous year. In the prior period, records showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, marking the highest number since the year 2015. In excess of 800 people have been executed so far in 2025.

Activists and protesters are victims, notably in the aftermath of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Specialists say the regime have employed the death penalty to suppress protest, create anxiety among the population and reinforce their hold on rule.