Leading athletes including Martina Navratilova and Riley Gaines urge the UN to act as Iran’s judiciary reaffirms new political death sentences
A growing coalition of international sports icons has condemned the Iranian regime for upholding the death sentence of imprisoned boxing champion Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, calling on the United Nations and global sports bodies to take urgent action to stop the execution.
The appeal — signed by Riley Gaines, Martina Navratilova, Nancy Hogshead, Sharron Davies, Inga Thompson, Carilyn Johnson, and others — denounces the ruling as a direct assault on human rights and the values of sportsmanship.
“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 coach from Mashhad,” the joint letter states.
Vafaei Sani has spent more than five years in prison under torture and solitary confinement for his participation in the 2019 pro-democracy protests and his support for the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). His arrest in March 2020 was followed by repeated judicial manipulations: the Supreme Court overturned his sentence twice, yet the Mashhad Revolutionary Court reissued it three times until the latest verdict was upheld.
The letter highlights Iran’s long record of executing athletes for their political beliefs, recalling figures such as Habib Khabiri, captain of Iran’s national football team, and Forouzan Abdi, captain of the women’s volleyball team, both executed for political reasons. It also cites the 2020 execution of wrestling champion Navid Afkari for joining peaceful protests.
“These political executions are a callous attempt by the authorities to frighten and silence an increasingly restive population no longer willing to accept their corrupt and oppressive rule,” the statement warns. “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.”
Despite political differences, Gaines and Navratilova — one a conservative activist and the other a vocal progressive — have united on this cause. Their cooperation underscores the broad moral outrage against the regime’s escalating use of executions as a tool of repression.
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has described Iran as being on an “unprecedented execution spree,” reporting over 1,000 executions since the beginning of 2025, with victims often accused under fabricated charges of “murder” or “drug-related crimes.”
Adding to this grim picture, the Iranian judiciary has reaffirmed the death sentence of political prisoner Reza Abdali in Sheiban Prison, Ahvaz, on charges of supporting the MEK. Abdali, arrested in February 2025, had previously been sentenced to 15 years in prison and death. He is currently held in solitary confinement in Ward 8 of Sheiban Prison. The Iranian Resistance has once again urged the United Nations and the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran to take immediate action to save Abdali and other prisoners facing imminent execution.
As the regime intensifies its campaign of repression, international outrage is growing. The global coalition of athletes joins a mounting list of voices — from human rights organizations to UN officials — demanding an end to Iran’s politically motivated executions and calling for accountability for those responsible for crimes against humanity.
