Asia Rugby Division 1 in Colombo: Match Officials announced

By Shamseer Jaleel

Asia Rugby (AR) announced the Match Officials for the Asia Rugby Division 1 tournament which will take place on 30 April and 4 May at the Racecourse ground.

Anil Jayasinghe will be the Referees Manager while Ishanka Abeykoon will officiate as one of the referees with Gihan Yatawara and Raveen Alexander appointed as the Assistant Referees.

Wimal Senanayake will officiate as the Citing Officer while Shahid Sangani and Aruna Jayasekera will be the two Judicial Officers for this event.

The four-teams event will be between Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, India and Qatar will see the champions moving forward to Top 4 in 2025 while the 4th placed team will be demoted to Division 2 in 2025.

Game 1

Qatar v Kazakhstan

Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) referees will take charge led by referee Ishanka Abeykoon. Abeykoon will be supported by Assistant Referees Raveen Alexander and Gihan Yatawara both also from SLR.

The match will be overseen by Performance Reviewer Jason Broderick (Hong Kong China Rugby) who will be working remotely, with Citing Commissioner Wimal Senanayake and Judicial Officer Shahid Sangani, both from SLR, ensuring highest standards of the game at the centre.

Game 2

Sri Lanka v India

On the same day hosts, Sri Lanka will play India, with Referee Just Wang (Singapore Rugby Union), alongside Assistant Referees J. P. Clements (UAE Rugby Federation) and Seo lnsoo (Korea Rugby Union) taking charge of the situation.

David Harper from UAERF who will be working remotely will serve as the Performance Reviewer, with Rizwan Malik (HKCR) appointed as the Citing Commissioner. Shahid Sangani from SLR will take on the role of Judicial Officer.

For the crucial 3rd place playoff and final on 4 May, experienced officials will ensure the smooth running of the matches. While Referee Ishanka Abeykoon from SLR and James Fairbourne from UAERF have been appointed, the final match announcement will only be made after the semi-finals to ensure Asia Rugby’s principle of using neutral match officials is adhered to.

Assistant Referees for the final day will include Raveen Alexander and Ghan Yatawara both from SLR, and J. P. Clements and Seo lnsoo representing UAERF and KRU respectively. They will be assigned to the games only after the teams for the finals are confirmed, maintaining the neutrality of the officiating process.

The appointments for Performance Reviewer, Citing Commissioner, and Judicial Officer for the final day, Jason Broderick and Rizwan Malik from HKCR will oversee the performance review and citing, while Aruna Jayasekera from SLR will serve as Judicial Officer.