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EXCLUSIVE: A coalition of athletes has written a letter condemning the Iranian regime for the death sentence on boxing champion Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, PK Press Club Digital has learned.
Signatories include women’s sports activist Riley Gaines, women’s tennis legend Martina Navratilova, US Olympic gold medalist swimmer Nancy Hogshead, British Olympic medalist swimmer Sharron Davies, US Olympic cyclist Inga Thompson, US ultrarunner Carilyn Johnson and others.
The letter calls on the United Nations, international sports federations and governments around the world to intervene to prevent the conviction of Vafaei Sani.
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“We, athletes and sports figures from around the world, strongly condemn the decision of the Iranian regime, on October 4, 2025, to maintain the death sentence of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, a 30-year-old boxing champion and trainer from Mashhad,” the letter read.
“Mohammad Javad spent more than five years in prison under torture and solitary confinement for participating in pro-democracy protests in 2019 and supporting the democratic opposition PMOI (MEK). His case is not an isolated tragedy.
“Iran has a dark history of executing athletes for their beliefs, including national football team captain Habib Khabiri and women’s national volleyball team captain Forouzan Abdi, the latter executed alongside 30,000 political prisoners during the 1988 massacre. In 2020, Iranian wrestling champion Navid Afkari was executed after participating in peaceful protests in 2018.
“In recent months, Iranian authorities have executed many other protesters with impunity on similar trumped-up charges. These political executions constitute a brutal attempt by the authorities to frighten and silence an increasingly restive population who are no longer willing to accept their corrupt and oppressive regime.
“Sport is meant to inspire hope, unity and courage. The execution of a champion for his political views is a direct attack on these values and a warning to any athlete who dares to speak out.”
Iran execution rate tops 1,000 this year as death row inmates launch hunger strike
Iranian worshipers raise their hands in a sign of unity with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during an anti-Israel rally to condemn Israeli attacks on Iran, in downtown Tehran, Iran, June 20, 2025. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The boxer was arrested in March 2020 in Mashhad for his political activities and his support for the Iranian dissident organization, the People’s Mojahedin Organization. Vafaei Sani had already participated in the 2019 protests against the regime.
Iran’s Supreme Court initially overturned his death sentence and ordered a retrial, but the revolutionary court later reinstated the death sentence without new evidence. The second conviction was also overturned by the Supreme Court, but the Mashhad Revolutionary Court later issued a death sentence for the third time. During the third phase of appeal, the Supreme Court upheld this verdict.
Now, as his case draws worldwide attention, he has brought together two unlikely allies, Gaines and Navratilova, to voice their support for Vafaei Sani.
Gaines is a staunch conservative activist and supporter of President Donald Trump, while Navratilova has a reputation for expressing left-wing views on social media and is often critical of Trump and other GOP figures.
However, another area that Gaines and Navratilova align on is the issue of biological males in women’s sports. Gaines and Navratilova, both former female athletes, expressed their belief in protecting women’s sports from the inclusion of transgender athletes.
But now the two numbers align on at least one other issue.
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Martina Navratilova and Riley Gaines spoke at an X Spaces event hosted by the “Our Bodies Our Sports” organization. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images for Laureus/Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The Iranian regime has been described as engaging in an “unprecedented execution spree” by the United Nations. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has stated that Islamic Republic of Iran has carried out more than 1,000 executions since the start of the year.
With up to nine executions per day at the time of writing its report, the OHCHR said the victims were mainly accused of murder and drug-related crimes.
