IT may sound like a strange thing to say, however extinction for our organisation will be seen as success, as at that point all areas of sport, I hope that along with society in general, will be functioning with full equality.

|However, before we go any further, let’s just get one thing right, the difference between parity and equality.

Sometimes in sport it is equality that women need, whilst there are other times, it is parity.

The best description I have come across is that parity is functional equality, whilst equality refers to equal portions of the same thing, parity calls for equivalent amounts.

Now we need to start the debate on what parts of sport need equality and what parts do we look for parity.

To be honest, there are some days when I think that this eventuality is closer than ever and then in the next moment I realise that it is still some way of.

Let’s be honest here, if everything was on par, then we wouldn’t need an organisation to collectively shout out for a fairer share for women in sport.

This debate is not isolated to Scotland or even Great Britain, it is a debate that is happening all over the world, with differing rates of success. So what do we have this week?

In Australia it was good news week when it was announced that the Matildas, Australia’s professional women’s football players, were receiving a wage increase which in some cases, for top international players, meant they would double their salary, putting them on approximately £85,000 per annum.

So that’s the good news, however in the next breathe I am reading about New Zealand’s Black Ferns, winners of the years Rugby World Cup, and neighbours of a certain fashion to Australia,.

The Ferns are all still amateur players and calls for the women players in the national side to have professional contracts and wages like their male counterparts have proven to be fruitless.

I think the quote from the FFA chief David Gallup. Sums it up. “This is the start of a new era for professional female footballers in Australia and W-League players deserve this pay rise. They have been trailblazers for women’s sport in Australia and are about to enter their 10th season.”

You can’t argue with that, yet over in New Zealand with their fifth World Cup victory under their belts, New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Tew was happy to take the usual route out by stating that there were not enough competitions to sustain full-time professional careers for women rugby players comparable to those of the All Blacks.

Why doesn’t he work with his counterparts in rugby to create competition, it’s the same distance for the All Blacks to travel as the Black Ferns, surely? So why not organise some Tests for them?

Over in Germany we hear about Bibiana Steinhaus who became the first women to referee a Bundesliga match which ended in a 1-1 draw between Hertha Berlin and Werder Bremen last Sunday.

Bibiana is 38 years old and a police officer. She has been a referee in Germany since 1999 and has come through the same ranks as the men.

In Scotland, this week we have read similar headlines about Lorraine Watson who became the first woman to referee a senior men’s game when she was appointed to Edinburgh City’s V Berwick Rangers in Scottish League Two.

Lorraine had some no nonsense quotes on women officiating at men’s games, when she told the BBC: “It was brilliant. There was absolutely no reaction, they just treated me the same as they would any other referee. When they disagreed, they shouted at me just the same as if it was a male in the middle.”

“As a referee, it doesn’t matter if you’re male, female or any other difference in you, if the teams and supporters aren’t happy with your decisions, they will pick up on something – and unfortunately if you happen to be a female, that’s generally what they pick up on first – and they’ll make comments regarding that”

I guess the above quote shows equality of sorts and as we move closed to breaking down gender stereotypes about women in sport, we have to realise that we will need to take the good with the bad.