First priority to develop referees – Dinka Peiris
A former cricketer turned rugby referee Dinka Peiris has been elected as president of the Sri Lanka Society of Rugby Football Referees (SLSRFR) at their annual general meeting held yesterday.
Dinka Peiris, not the first to be elected president of Referees Society without having played Division ‘A’
Peiris who served under six presidents as general secretary of SLSRFR for more than a decade, vowed to focus on development of referees after taking over at the helm with a new-look committee.
“My first priority is to build bridges with the Union (Sri Lanka Rugby) and clubs because there have been many misunderstandings in the past. We have also drafted changes to our constitution and have a structured development plan for referees,” Peiris told the Sunday Times.
The former Cambrian cricketer took up the whistle more than two decades ago rising up the ranks to stamp his class as an international Level 3 referee to officiate at the Dubai Sevens in 2012, Cobra 10s in Malaysia and Singapore Saint Sevens. He also achieved the distinction of blowing in the Bradby Shield for four consecutive years from 2015-18 and crunch Kandy SC-CR&FC clashes for three successive years from 2016 before retiring as a referee in 2019.
One of the few referees to head the SLSRFR without having played ‘A’ division rugby which precludes him from sitting in the SLR Council, Peiris shrugged it off by saying officiating at the highest level is as good as having played the game.
“Without referees there can’t be players. Whether the Society president has played or not, we are only observers whereas Schools and Universities representatives have a vote in the Council. We want to discuss this with the Sports Minister,” said Peiris, who is hopeful of recovering the sum of Rs 6.9 million owed by SLR to the referees society.
Developing referees will be handled by a committee comprising veteran coach educators Dilroy Fernando, Vimal Perera, Tony Amit and Anil Jayasinghe while former SLSRFR president Nizam Jamaldeen and Shamrath Fernando have been tasked to
find sponsors.
SLRFRS office-bearers:
President: Dinka Peiris
Vice Presidents: Brig. Upali Kotuwegedera, Priyantha Guneratne
Secretary: Kevin Peiris
Treasurer: Shamrath Fernando
Past committee members: Rohan Fernando, Irshad Cader
Committee members: Pradeep Wilson, Deepal Punyawardena, Preethi Kumara Fernando, Madhawa Wijesiri
Referee Manager:
Anil Jayasinghe