1.0Mathematical 7https://mathematical7.com/m7rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="4hjInjWZDo"><a href="https://mathematical7.com/m7/2016-my-crystal-ball/">2016 – my crystal ball!</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://mathematical7.com/m7/2016-my-crystal-ball/embed/#?secret=4hjInjWZDo" width="600" height="338" title="“2016 – my crystal ball!” — Mathematical 7" data-secret="4hjInjWZDo" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); //# sourceURL=https://mathematical7.com/m7/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js /* ]]> */ </script> https://mathematical7.com/m7/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/crys.jpg251201I do this every year. I take a look into my crystal ball to see what the future holds. I leave it to all those that have been following to draw their conclusions on how well I have fared personally though I consider myself an oracle by my degree of success. So, welcome to 2016. I am supremely confident that 2016 holds great promise for sports around the world particularly in the aftermath of the earth-shaking scandals that rocked Track and Field athletics (doping) and football (money and power). For administrators in the IAAF and FIFA, the past year could not have been darker or longer. Nothing could have prepared them for the monumental scandals that both organisations had to contend with in 2015. What is clear to me as I peer into my crystal ball first day into 2016 is that the disappointments of 2015 will morph into blessings in 2016. Both organisations will never be the same again, for good! Sir, Seb Coe the newly elected President of the IAAF, has pledged that the issue of doping that has threatened the credibility of track and field sports and could destroy the very foundation of the Olympic movement will be dealt with decisively and transparently by his administration. In FIFA, the organization has been so badly wracked by scandals of unprecedented dimension that the reforms and elections coming up in February 2016 to elect a new president of the organization, will ensure that things never return to the dark days of 2015 again. Although, no one knows for sure how the final drama of the elections will play out my crystal ball shows clearly that even as Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini are still fighting the battles of their lives to restore their reputations, both gentlemen are nowhere on the radar in 2016. Effectively, they have come to the end of the road as far as their leadership and ambitions in FIFA from 2016 are concerned. For us in Africa, 2015 held one very pleasant surprise. One of our own, Issa Hayatou, through the intervention of fate, has indirectly fulfilled our ambition to have a Black man as president of FIFA even if on an interim basis. Beyond that, my crystal ball does not show the man anywhere on the radar screen of 2016. That means that Issa will not return as CAF President. He should therefore not tempt fate and the elements by attempting to contest after what happened to Blatter and Platini.