"This is what bravery looks like" - Martina Navratilova heaps praise on the Iranian female basketball team for posing without their hijabs

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova heaped praise on an Iranian female basketball team for posing without their hijabs in protest of their country's orthodox regime.

Canco, an Iranian basketball team, posed for a group photo without their usual hijabs. Farzaneh Jamami, the team's head coach, uploaded a photo of the athletes dressed in red jerseys assembled on a basketball court and captioned it with an empowering statement:

"Teach your daughter that such things as gender roles are nothing but nonsense. Teach them from them, you are valuable and irreplaceable. If you're told otherwise, don't believe it. Tell them 'don't hide yourself. Stand up, hold your head high and show them what you got!' Tell them you are powerful and capable, you are a woman of freedom." (via translation)

Martina Navratilova, who is known for speaking up on issues on which most people prefer to remain silent, took to Twitter to applaud the girls for their bravery.

"This is what bravery looks like!!!" Navratilova wrote.

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"I think we just need to keep using it for good and just keep shining the light" - Martina Navratilova on the use of social media

Martina Navratilova at WTA's "Her Health Advantage" event presented by Hologic.

In a recent interview, Martina Navratilova said she had high hopes for the internet when it first came out. However, since social media allows people to share lies as well as truths, Navratilova advised everyone to "keep using it for good."

"I had such high hopes for the internet when it first came out. I was like, 'This is great, now you can spread truth around the world so quickly.' But then you can also spread lies around the world so quickly...It's been a plus and a minus. But now I think we just need to keep using it for good and just keep shining the light," Martina Navratilova said.

She also stated that she has always viewed her 'role model' status as a responsibility to youngsters, even when she came out as a lesbian.

"I always felt that responsibility as a role model. I always thought about the kids first," Navratilova said, adding, "When I came out, it was also a reflection on the LGBT community. Certainly for women and lesbians more than anybody else. So I always felt that responsibility, but I always felt it, to begin with, to the kids."

The 18-time Grand Slam winner further stated that she never did anything embarrassing or inappropriate on the court throughout her playing days, since she took her duty as a role model very seriously.

"I didn't throw my racquet on the court, I didn't do anything I was embarrassed about on the court, because of athletes supposed to be role models, and I took that role seriously...I didn't really do anything that was really really bad," Navratilova added.