NEWNow you can listen to Pak Gazette articles!
EXCLUSIVE: A coalition of athletes wrote a letter condemning the Iranian regime for the death sentence of boxing champion Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, Pak Gazette Digital has learned.
Signatories include women’s sports activist Riley Gaines, women’s tennis legend Martina Navratilova, American Olympic gold medalist swimmer Nancy Hogshead, British Olympic medalist swimmer Sharron Davies, American Olympic cyclist Inga Thompson, American ultrarunner Carilyn Johnson and others.
The letter calls on the United Nations, international sports federations and world governments to intervene to prevent Vafaei Sani’s sentencing.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PakGazette.Com
“We, athletes and sports figures around the world, strongly condemn the Iranian regime’s decision on October 4, 2025 to confirm the death sentence of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, a 30-year-old boxing champion and trainer from Mashhad,” the letter writes.
“Mohammad Javad has spent more than five years in prison under torture and solitary confinement for participating in the 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, Iranian wrestling champion Navid Afkari was executed after participating in peaceful protests in 2018.
“In recent months, Iranian authorities have executed many other protesters on similar trumped-up charges with complete impunity. These political executions are a cruel attempt by the authorities to frighten and silence an increasingly restive population no longer willing to accept their corrupt and oppressive rule.
“Sport is meant to inspire hope, unity and courage. The execution of a champion for his political views is a direct assault on these values and a warning to any athlete who dares to speak out.”
EXECUTION RATE IN IRAN EXCEEDS 1,000 THIS YEAR AS DEATH PRISONERS LAUNCH 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 attacks on Iran, in central 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 Mujahideen Organization. Vafaei Sani previously participated in the 2019 protests against the regime.
Initially, Iran’s Supreme Court 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 annulled by the Supreme Court, but then the Mashhad Revolutionary Court handed down a death sentence for the third time. In the third stage of appeal, the Supreme Court has now confirmed this ruling.
Now, as his case raises global awareness, he has brought together two unlikely allies: 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 views on social media and often criticizes Trump and other Republican Party figures.
However, another area where Gaines and Navratilova agree is on 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 figures are aligned on at least one other issue.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE Pak Gazette APP
Martina Navratilova and Riley Gaines spoke at an X Spaces event hosted by the “Our Bodies Our Sports” organization. (Photo by Ángel Martínez/Getty Images for Laureus/Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The United Nations described the Iranian regime as being on an “unprecedented wave of executions.” The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that Islamic Republic of Iran It has carried out more than 1,000 executions since the beginning of the year.
With up to nine executions each day at the time of its report, OHCHR said victims were mainly charged with murder and drug-related crimes.
