Only three more days and the highlight of the British footballing year is going to be played out in all its glory. Aston Villa will face Arsenal in the FA Cup Final.
Villa are the underdogs by a long way. A change of managers from the unfortunate Paul Lambert to the inspirational Tim Sherwood rescued them from relegation, but only by the skin of their teeth, courtesy of a Hull City loss. In spite of a welcome return to form by star striker Christian Benteke, they still suffered a 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Southampton a couple of weeks ago and a miserable 1-0 defeat by relegated Burnley last week.
No one gives them much of a chance against the mighty Arsenal, who hold the title and look like retaining it.
But still: on Saturday, Villa supporters in their tens of thousands will converge on Wembley, hoping, believing and willing their team to do it. They'll be emotionally exhausted even before they arrive, and in no fit state to drive home when it's all over. Expect tears, gasps, cheers and leaden silence.
Here's a confession: I'm a bystander rather than a fan. I enjoy the goals and appreciate the skill of the game. I'd go to a match if I'm not too busy, and enjoy it, and I have a family interest in Villa, which is why I know that stuff. But it doesn't rule my life.
I know enough, and care enough, for the latest revelations about FIFA to incense me. Seven high-ranking officials have been arrested on corruption charges at the instigation of the US. Another seven are under investigation. "The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States," said US Attorney General Loretta Lynch. "It has profoundly harmed a multitude of victims, from the youth leagues and developing countries that should benefit from the revenue generated by the commercial rights these organisations hold, to the fans at home and throughout the world whose support for the game makes those rights valuable."
She's so right. Because what attracts even a bystander like me to the game is the sense that these players are playing up to and beyond their limits. They've trained their minds and bodies with one purpose: to win, within a fixed set of rules. And added to the mechanical grind of training to their awesome fitness levels are the imponderable extras of creativity and imaginative flair, that sometimes – just sometimes – results in moments of high art that say as much about the glory of God as a symphony or a jazz solo.
FIFA has been dogged by rumours of corruption for years. Sep Blatter, if he isn't personally tainted by it, hasn't done anything to stop it. The award of the World Cup to Qatar and Russia – universally believed to be a breathtakingly brazen piece of chicanery – is to be investigated by Swiss prosecutors, too; not before time.
What does this have to do with Villa versus Arsenal on Saturday? At one level, nothing. They'll play as hard as they can for the glory of the game. At another, everything. FIFA ought to be football's custodian, guarding its reputation, nurturing its growth. Instead, its officials have abused the trust of millions around the world and prostituted the game. What it's done "takes off the rose/ From the fair forehead of an innocent love/ And sets a blister there" (as Hamlet puts it).
It's easy to say that there's so much money in football that these men – they're all men – were exposed to more temptation than they could handle. And it's true that money tempts; look at the banking industry. But the outrage directed at FIFA reflects how people feel about the game. It's only worth anything if it's honest, and if that taint of corruption is found to have spread beyond FIFA's opulent Zurich HQ, the damage it will do is immense.
FIFA hasn't even started to deal with this. But it could begin on Friday, by not re-electing Sep Blatter as its president. Whoever has the moral authority to sort it out, it isn't him.
Follow Mark on Twitter @RevMarkWoods
