Shireen Ahmed

Senior Contributor

Shireen Ahmed is a multi-platform sports journalist, a TEDx speaker, mentor, and an award-winning sports activist who focuses on the intersections of racism and misogyny in sports. She is an industry expert on Muslim women in sports, and her academic research and contributions have been widely published. She is co-creator and co-host of the “Burn It All Down” feminist sports podcast team. In addition to being a seasoned investigative reporter, her commentary is featured by media outlets in Canada, the USA, Europe and Australia. She holds an MA in Media Production from Toronto Metropolitan University where she now teaches Sports Journalism and Sports Media. You can find Shireen tweeting or drinking coffee, or tweeting about drinking coffee. She lives with her four children and her cat.

Latest from Shireen Ahmed

Opinion

Menstruation shouldn't be another hurdle female athletes have to overcome

We aren't too long past the time when feminine hygiene products sponsoring women's sport was not considered because periods were taboo. Why is something so banal treated like it's something to be ashamed of? 
Opinion

Has John Herdman escaped accountability for Canada Soccer's drone-spying scandal?

In sport, we see coaches commit errors, flagrant missteps, and continue to work and move to the next club or team. In the case of the Canadian national women's soccer team drone-spying scandal, Shireen Ahmed writes that one person whose proximity to accountability remains a huge question mark is the team's former coach John Herdman.
Opinion

How Taylor Swift's cultural impact is helping to shake up the women's sport landscape

In addition to the skyrocketing prices of hotel rooms, inflated Uber rates and hysteria around her presence, Taylor Swift hugely affects the sports ecosystem around her. Whether or not skeptics want to admit it, her connection to sport creates a cultural impact that can not be denied.
Opinion

Women soccer players' opposition to Saudi sponsorship demonstrates the power and responsibility of speaking up

Since women started playing organized sport, and through the different iterations of many leagues, women have not only fought for their right to play, they have fought to be paid fairly, to not be abused, and for their identities to be respected. The latest battle is with FIFA and its sponsorship deal with Saudi Arabia's Aramco.

Former women's national team goalkeeper Erin McLeod signs with NSL's Halifax Tides

Goalkeeper Erin McLeod is coming home to Canada to play professional soccer in Halifax when the Northern Super League makes its debut in April.
Opinion

Sports teams continue to penalize themselves with outdated nicknames and marketing

When it comes to choosing team nicknames, recent experiences show many heads in consultation and discussion are better than a few.
Opinion

Isabella Bertold's Canadian sailing team looks to make waves in America's Cup Barcelona

It has taken 173 years to get a women's sailing event at the America's Cup regatta being held from Oct. 5-13 in Barcelona. Among those invited to compete is a Canadian team, and at the helm is captain Isabella Bertold.
Opinion

100-year-old Canadian swimmer Betty Brussel continues to defy odds and break records

After an incredible summer of Canadian success in the pool at the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, there is one individual who continues to defeat the odds and break records. New Westminster, B.C.'s 100-year-old swimmer Betty Brussel.
Opinion

Movie Rez Ball shows why Indigenous stories are best told by Indigenous people

Knowing and learning about your subjects is a basic tenet in journalism. But it hasn't always been done well for people in the margins.
Opinion

Gaza's Fadi Aldeeb sparks 'inclusion revolution' as lone Palestinian Paralympian

One of the Paralympians leading his own revolution is 39-year-old Fadi Aldeeb, a shot putter from Gaza. Aldeeb is the only member of the Paralympic team from Palestine in Paris.