FIFA, the International Football Federation, is grabbing the front page headlines right now, with 14 of its committee members and sports marketing executives indicted by the FBI. Then there has been the storm over the re-election of Sepp Blatter as president, against the votes of the association's biggest backers - and his subsequent resignation.
Yet in the midst of this comes a ray of positive news. At last we will have women in the EA FIFA 16 computer game. Even an Australian women's team.
In case you are not aware at how earth-shattering this is: over 13,000 petitions have bombarded FIFA from all over the world. The EA Sports soccer is one of the most successful video games of all time. It has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, in 51 countries and 18 languages.
The video game industry is bigger than the music industry. It is also pretty pirate-proof because to play a game like FIFA on your Xbox, PlayStation or smartphone, you need to be constantly in the flow of the game as you trade players and challenge other teams. It's a very complex world and if you want to fully participate, you have to play straight.
The FIFA Women's World Cup - the one played by real live girls - starts this Saturday 6th in Canada, while our virtual computer girls will launch in September along with the newest FIFA16 edition of the game which is expected to sell 20 million units.
If you have never played this game you would be stunned by the detail and reality of its animation. The characters, and their moves, are created using the most modern digital graphic techniques. Actual moves are shot with key points on the body marked by reference lights mounted on black costumes. These enable the animators to capture the utmost subtlety of movement as the player runs, kicks, saves, tackles, dribbles, shoots.
From each team the players have digitally-mapped faces that shout, call, smile, groan - in response to the action. The Matildas' superstars, Samantha Kerr, Lisa De Vanna and Kyah Simon, have spent hours in front of cameras being digitally recorded to make near-perfect avatars.
If you remember my piece on "run like a girl" - well the way these girls run, you can only wish you had the energy. The release will feature 12 women's national teams, including the US, Canada, Germany, UK and of course Australia.
While the women can play against each other, and players can be moved to create "world's best players" teams, they cannot play against the men. Why not? "Keeping in line with how women’s football is played in real life at this level, women’s national teams can only compete against each other," said an EA Sports spokesman.
This opening to girls was inevitable. The fact is, gaming is no longer the sport of teenage boys avoiding their homework. The Entertainment Software Association has stated that 47 per cent of players are women - twice as many as boys aged 17 or under. In the US, 40 percent of soccer players are girls. It's a preferred sport in many schools, being perceived as less physical than grid-iron.
So it is being hailed: "Bringing some of the best women's players and teams in the world to our franchise is a massive event for us," said David Rutter, vice president of EA Sports.
