Profile
Gregory is a doctoral researcher at the Institute for Diplomacy and International Affairs. With a strong and diverse academic foundation spanning the UK and the European continent, Gregory’s research interests centre around the intersection of sport and politics and its implications for the geopolitical playing field.
Academic background
Gregory holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Philosophy (2:1, B.A.) from King’s College London (2015-2018) and a Master of Arts degree in the Erasmus Mundus MA in Sports Ethics and Integrity (Summa Cum Laude) from KU Leuven (2021-2023).
He has worked as an anti-doping researcher for the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) and been involved in researching Artificial Intelligence use in sport at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
PhD research
As sport's global appeal has grown, so has its capacity to shape geopolitics. From regimes leveraging sport to project a positive national image to state-backed entities investing in football clubs to diversify their economies, sport has emerged as a powerful geopolitical tool. However, while its use in this context is widely recognised, the precise extent of sport’s geopolitical influence remains unclear, with no established metrics or criteria to evaluate it.
Gregory’s research titled ‘Sport’s Impact as a Soft Power Tool: A Comprehensive Framework’, aims to 1) develop a framework for assessing the utility of sport as a soft power tool and 2) apply the soft power framework to the Men’s FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games to quantify sports’ soft power impact.
This research will benefit international sports federations, policymakers, and other stakeholders by defining the boundaries of sport's geopolitical influence, promoting collaborative and consistent handling of international crises, and enabling its strategic use to achieve commercial, political, and sporting success.