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EXCLUSIVE: A coalition of athletes wrote a letter condemning the Iranian regime for its death sentence on boxing champion Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, Pakinomist 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 swimmer Sharron Davies, US Olympic cyclist Inga Thompson, US ultra runner Carilyn Johnson and others.
The letter calls on the UN, international sports federations and world governments to intervene to prevent Vafaei Sani’s sentence.
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“We, athletes and sports figures from around the world, strongly condemn the Iranian regime’s decision on October 4, 2025 to uphold the death sentence of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, a 30-year-old boxing champion and trainer from Mashhad,” the letter reads.
“Mohammad Javad has spent more than five years in prison under torture and solitary confinement for participating in 2019 pro-democracy protests and supporting the democratic opposition PMOI (MEK). His case is not an isolated tragedy.
“Iran has a grim history of executing athletes for their beliefs, including the captain of the national football team, Habib Khabiri, and the captain of the national women’s volleyball team, Forouzan Abdi, the latter executed along with 30,000 political prisoners during the 1988 massacre. In 2020, the Iranian warlord was executed following the Iranian violence in peaceful protests in 2018.
“In recent months, the Iranian authorities have executed several other protesters on similar trumped-up charges with total impunity. These political executions are a sickening attempt by the authorities to intimidate and silence an increasingly reluctant population no longer willing to accept their corrupt and oppressive rule.
“Sports are meant to inspire hope, unity and courage. The execution of a champion for his political views is a direct attack on those values and a warning to any athlete who dares to speak out.”
IRAN’S EXECUTION PROCESS OF OVER 1,000 THIS YEAR AS DEATH CONTEMPTS LAUNCHES HUNGER STRIKE
Iranian worshipers raise their hands in unity with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during an anti-Israel rally to condemn Israel’s attack on Iran in downtown Tehran, Iran, on June 20, 2025. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The boxer was arrested in March 2020 in Mashhad for political activities and support for the Iranian dissident organization, the People’s Mojahedin Organization. Vafaei Sani previously participated in anti-regime protests in 2019.
Iran’s Supreme Court initially overturned his death sentence and ordered a new trial, but then the Revolutionary Court re-issued the death sentence without new evidence. The second sentence was also overturned by the Supreme Court, but then the Mashhad Revolutionary Court issued a death sentence for the third time. In the third appeal phase, the Supreme Court has now upheld this judgment.
Now, as his case draws global attention, it has brought together two unlikely allies in Gaines and Navratilova to speak out in support of Vafaei Sani.
Gaines is a staunch conservative activist and supporter of President Donald Trump, while Navratilova has a reputation for expressing left-wing opinions on social media and is often critical of Trump and other GOP figures.
But another area where both Gaines and Navratilova are aligned is the issue of biological males in women’s sports. Gaines and Navratilova, both former female athletes, have expressed their belief in protecting women’s sports from the inclusion of transgender athletes.
But now the two numbers line up with at least one other question.
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Martina Navratilova and Riley Gaines spoke at an X Spaces event organized by the organization “Our Bodies Our Sports”. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images for Laureus/Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The Iranian regime was described as being on an “unprecedented execution spree” by the United Nations. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said so Islamic Republic of Iran has carried out more than 1,000 executions since the start of the year.
With as many as nine executions each day at the time of their report, the OHCHR said victims were primarily accused of murder and drug-related crimes.
