Outrage over hanging of young wrestling star in Iran sparks international condemnation
Trace Gallagher discusses the execution of a 19-year-old wrestling star and two other young men by the Iranian regime, which sparked international outrage. Christina Coleman reports on the convictions of Olympic gold medalists Brandon Slay and Tyler Clary. A panel, including Dr. Houman Hemmati, Shabnam Jaleh and Eve Barlow, discusses the regime’s brutal tactics, the internet blackout, and citizens’ desire for freedom.
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A coalition of athletes, including several Olympic athletes, have signed a letter advocating against Iran for its history and plans to execute star athletes, as the planned execution of Iranian boxing champion Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani looms.
Sani is a boxing champion, trainer and political prisoner currently facing imminent risk of execution in Iran by the Ayatollah.
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He was arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in March 2020 following his participation in the November 2019 nationwide protests, which were initially sparked by a sudden increase in gasoline prices. Iranian justice accused him of “corruption on earth”, a capital crime in the country.
Olympic athletes, led by women’s tennis legend Martina Navratilova and British swimming gold medalist Sharron Davies, are calling on ruling powers and global sporting bodies to intervene to prevent the execution.
“Currently, Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, a 31-year-old boxing champion and trainer, remains on death row,” the letter states.
“We call on the United Nations, international sports federations and governments to act immediately to save the lives of Iranian dissidents, including athletes. The world must not stand by while Iran silences its champions. We stand with the victims. We stand for justice.”
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The letter also noted past incidents of Iranian execution of star athletes in the country, including 19-year-old wrestling champion Saleh Mohammadi, whose execution sparked a global uproar in March.
“Since mid-March, Iran has witnessed a horrific wave of executions of political dissidents, marking one of the most severe repressive measures in the last three decades. Dozens of people have been executed after unfair trials and forced confessions. The theocratic regime, fearing another uprising, has exploited the pretext of war to suppress growing dissent. Several victims of these executions were protesters arrested during the January uprising. 2026. Among them were Saleh Mohammadi, a 19-year-old national wrestling champion, and Sasan Azadvar Joonaghan, a 21-year-old karate champion,” the letter states.
“Tragically, Iran has a grim history of executing athletes for their beliefs, including Habib Khabiri, the captain of Iran’s national football team, who was executed for his affiliation with the PMOI, and Forouzan Abdi, captain of Iran’s women’s national volleyball team, who was executed along with 30,000 political prisoners during the 1988 massacre. In 2020, Iranian wrestling champion Navid Afkari was executed executed after participating in peaceful protests in 2018.”
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Saleh Mohammadi, an Iranian wrestling champion allegedly executed for participating in a protest earlier this year, appears next to a Tehran poster featuring supreme leaders Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Ali Khamenei and Mojtaba Khamenei on March 10, 2026. (The Foreign Desk/AFP via Getty Images)
The letter includes a total of 24 signatory athletes, including nine Olympic athletes and five Iranians.
- Martina Navratilova — Former world number one tennis player (Czech Republic/United States)
- Soolmaz Abooali — 16-time American champion and three-time world champion of Traditional Karate (United States)
- Sharron Davies MBE — Swimmer, Olympic medalist (United Kingdom)
- Craig Foster A.M. — Former captain of the Australian national football team (Australia)
- Alberto Frati — Boxer; Former UBO International Super Featherweight Champion (Italy)
- Nikolai Terterian — Boxer; Gold medalist at the European Games (Denmark)
- The Muslim Eskandar Filabi — Olympic; Gold medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Asian Games (Iran)
- Tracy Edwards MBE — Navigator of the year 1990; Skipper of the first all-female crew in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race (UK)
- Bahram Mavaddat — Former goalkeeper of the Iranian national football team (Iran)
- Carolina Johnson — Ultrarunner; four-time member of Team USA; Member of the two-time gold and one-time silver medalist team at the IAU 24 Hour World Championships (United States)
- Mohammad Ghorbani — Olympic; Wrestling gold medalist at the World Championships and Asian Games (Iran)
- Inga Thompson — Cyclist; Olympic; 10-time US National Champion; three-time world medalist (United States)
- Monica Aksamit — Saber fencer; Olympic Bronze Medalist; Pan American Games gold medalist (United States)
- Manouchehr Arastoupour — Gold medalist in the World Rowing Masters Regatta (Iran)
- Chris Cook — Swimmer; Olympic; two-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist (UK)
- Eli Bremer — Olympic Pentathlon, Modern (United States)
- Ali Ziaei — Former National Sanshou Champion and member of the Canadian National Wushu Team (Canada)
- Vladyslav Heraskevych — Olympic, Skeleton Racer (Ukraine)
- Shea McAleese — Olympic; Former member of the New Zealand national hockey team; Commonwealth Games bronze medalist (New Zealand)
- Asghar Adibi — Former member of the Iran national football team (Iran)
- Elham Asem — Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) fighter and referee; BJJ World Amateur Champion; Gold Medalist at the AJP International Championships in Lisbon and Milan (Norway)
- Hit Parvardeh — Gymnast; European TeamGym Championships Silver Medalist (Sweden)
- Amin Karimi — Kickboxer; 16 Class B fights, 14 wins (Germany)
- James Field — Former Captain of the USA International Karate Team; Two-time Grand National Champion; Two-time Pan American Champion (United States)
