An athlete coalition, which includes multiple Olympians, reportedly signed a letter that advocates against Iran’s history and preparations to have star athletes executed, doing so as an execution of Iranian boxing champion Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani is being planned.
A boxing champion, coach and political prisoner, Sani is currently up against a threat of execution that’s imminent by the Ayatollah in Iran.
In March 2020, Sani was placed under arrest by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) after he participated in the protests across the nation in November 2019. The protests were originally triggered by the swift increase of gas prices. He was charged with “corruption on earth” by the Iranian judiciary, which is listed as a capital offense in the nation. (RELATED: Bears Set To Leave Democratic Chicago After Over 100 Years)
Headlined by tennis legend Martina Navratilova and British gold medalist swimmer Sharron Davis, the Olympians are calling for global sports bodies and governing powers to step in to stop the Sani execution.
“Currently, Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, a 31-year-old boxing champion and coach, remains on death row,” reads the letter, per Fox News.
“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.”
Iran imprisons and executes its star athletes but also using its supposes national teams’s participation in international games to whitewash these very crimes. It should be expelled from @FIFAcom and international athletic bodies. @StateDept_NEA @Olympics…
— OIAC: Organization of Iranian American Communities (@OrgIAC) June 5, 2026
In the letter, a spotlight is also put on incidents in the past regarding star athletes being executed in Iran, which includes champion wrestler Saleh Mohammadi, 19. Taking place in March, Mohammadi’s execution caused backlash around the world.
“Since mid-March, Iran has witnessed a horrific spree of executions of political dissidents, marking one of the most severe crackdowns in the past three decades. Dozens of people have been executed following unfair trials and coerced confessions.
“The theocratic regime, fearing another uprising, has exploited the cover of war to suppress growing dissent. Several victims of these executions were protesters arrested during the January 2026 uprising. Among them were Saleh Mohammadi, a 19-year-old national wrestling champion, and Sasan Azadvar Joonaghan, a 21-year-old karate champion,” reads the letter.
“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 national women’s volleyball team, who was 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.”
24 signatures from athletes are included in the letter, which features a total of five Iranians and nine Olympians, per Fox News:
- “Martina Navratilova — Former World No. 1 Women’s Tennis Player (Czech Republic/United States)
- Soolmaz Abooali — 16-time U.S. Champion and three-time World Champion in Traditional Karate (United States)
- Sharron Davies MBE — Swimmer, Olympic Medalist (United Kingdom)
- Craig Foster AM — Former Captain of the National Football Team of Australia (Australia)
- Alberto Frati — Boxer; Former UBO International Super Featherweight Champion (Italy)
- Nikolai Terteryan — Boxer; European Games Gold Medalist (Denmark)
- Moslem Eskandar Filabi — Olympian; Gold Medalist in Greco-Roman Wrestling at the Asian Games (Iran)
- Tracy Edwards MBE — 1990 Yachtsman of the Year; Skipper of the First All-Female Crew in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race (United Kingdom)
- Bahram Mavaddat — Former Goalkeeper of the National Football Team of Iran (Iran)
- Carilyn Johnson — Ultrarunner; four-time Member of Team USA; two-time Gold and one-time Silver Medalist Team Member at the IAU 24-Hour World Championship (United States)
- Mohammad Ghorbani — Olympian; Gold Medalist in Freestyle Wrestling at the World Championships and Asian Games (Iran)
- Inga Thompson — Cyclist; Olympian; 10-time U.S. 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 at the World Rowing Masters Regatta (Iran)
- Chris Cook — Swimmer; Olympian; two-time Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist (United Kingdom)
- Eli Bremer — Olympian, Modern Pentathlon (United States)
- Ali Ziaei — Former National Sanshou Champion and Member of Canadian National Wushu Team (Canada)
- Vladyslav Heraskevych — Olympian, Skeleton Racer (Ukraine)
- Shea McAleese — Olympian; Former Member of the New Zealand National Hockey Team; Commonwealth Games Bronze Medalist (New Zealand)
- Asghar Adibi — Former Member of the National Football Team of Iran (Iran)
- Elham Asem — Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) Fighter and Referee; BJJ World Amateur Champion; Gold Medalist at the AJP Lisbon and Milan International Championships (Norway)
- Golpar Parvardeh — Gymnast; European Championships in TeamGym Silver Medalist (Sweden)
- Amin Karimi — Kickboxer; 16 B-Class Fights, 14 Wins (Germany)
- James Field — Former Captain of the U.S. International Karate Team; Two-time National Grand Champion; Two-time Pan American Champion (United States)”