Dr Minhyeok Tak

Minhyeok Tak is a Lecturer in Sport Management at the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences. He joined Loughborough University in 2019, after completing his PhD at the University of Otago, New Zealand, in 2018. Minhyeok obtained his BSc (Physical Education), BA (Sociology), and MSc (Sociology of Sport) at Seoul National University, South Korea.

Minhyeok’s research interest is in the socio-political analysis of sport. His current research focuses on two main themes:

• The politics of policy regimes around sports, gambling and the problem of match-fixing – how betting revenues, regulations and technologies change the way contemporary sports are experienced and consumed; and
• The institutional design of sport development systems behind the integrity issues, such as corruption, match-fixing, abusive practices, etc.

Research projects involved:

• ‘Is Safe Sport incompatible with high performance? Contextualising safeguarding policies within the South Korean elite athlete development system’ funded by the IOC’s 2021/22 Advanced Olympic Research Grant, The Olympic Studies Centre (PI with Dr Yoon Jin Kim & Dr Daniel Rhind)
• ‘Match-fixing monitoring system in play: Betting, data analysis technology and its effects on sport integrity’ funded by the 2019 IOC’s Early Career Academics Research Grant, The Olympic Studies Centre
• ‘Match-fixing monitoring system in play: Betting, data analysis technology and its effects on sport integrity’ funded by the IOC’s Early Career Academics Research Grant, The Olympic Studies Centre (2019)

Reviewer for academic journals, including Communication & Sport, European Sport Management Quarterly, International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Sport in Society, Sport Management Review, Sage Open, Ethics & Behavior, Crime, Law & Social Change, etc.

• Tak, M., Choi, C. H., & Sam, M. P. (2021). Odds-wise view: Whose ideas prevail in the global integrity campaigns against match-fixing? International Review for the Sociology of Sport. DOI: 10.1177/10126902211045681.
• Kim, Y. J., & Tak, M. (2021). PE teacher selection and employment examination: A reinventive institution within teacher education and socialisation. Sport, Education and Society. DOI:10.1080/13573322.2021.1979953.
• Tak, M., Sam, M. P., & Choi, C. H. (2020). Too much at stake to uphold sport integrity? High-performance athletes’ involvement in match-fixing. Crime, Law and Social Change. DOI: 10.1007/s10611-020-09887-1.
• Chang, I. Y., Jackson, S., & Tak, M. (2019). Globalization, migration, citizenship, and sport celebrity: Locating Lydia Ko between and beyond New Zealand and South Korea. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 36(7-8), 643-659. DOI:10.1080/09523367.2019.1675644.
• Tak, M. (2018). Too big to jail: Match-fixing, institutional failure and the shifting of responsibility. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 53(7), 788-806. DOI: 10.1177/1012690216682950
• Tak, M., Sam, M. P., & Jackson, S. J. (2018). The problems and causes of match-fixing: Are legal sports betting regimes to blame? Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, 4(1), 73-87. DOI: 10.1108/JCRPP-01-2018-0006
• Tak, M., Sam, M. P., & Jackson, S. J. (2018). The politics of countermeasures against match-fixing in sport: A political sociology approach to policy instruments. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 53(1), 30-48. DOI: 10.1177/1012690216639748.
• Tak, M. (2018). Three conceptual tools for studying sports-related social/policy institutions: Costs, paths and grains. Korean Journal of Sociology of Sport, 31(1), 171-196. [Published in Korean]