Upheaval in rugby match officiating arena: No plans to dissolve Referees Society: Pavithra

• Asserts Elite Panel the way forward 

Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) President Pavithra Fernando says that the game’s local ruling body has no intention of dissolving the Sri Lanka Society of Rugby Football Referees (SLSRFA).

This is in lieu of the ongoing upheaval linked to alleged sub-standard refereeing of the ongoing Maliban Inter-Club League tournament.

Speaking to The Daily Morning Sports,the former national captain stated that SLR was only pushing the SLSRFA to ensure good governance within its administration 24/7.

But, he emphasised that they have no desire to dictate terms to the controlling body for match officials which comes under his administration’s purview.

He noted that the Referees Society will be given a free rein to conduct its 2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled for Saturday (10) in Colombo, with no undue intervention from Sri Lanka Rugby, but asserted that the latter will monitor its progress.

He also spoke of the dearth of competent referees in Sri Lanka who could move seamlessly from one high-intensity fixture to another consistently unlike in the past, and with the barest possible number of mistakes. 

“We (SLR) have no intention of meddling with the AGM of the Referees Society,” the ex-backrower opined.

“That is their right to hold as it is an election of office bearers. But, at the same time, I have to place on record our discontent with the scarcity of qualified referees to officiate local matches at the moment. There is only a couple of referees who can cope with the demand and scrutiny, while the rest all tend to come a cropper.”

Asked whether any complaints had been received by SLR regarding the eligibility criteria of its outgoing President and another former President who is set to vie for the top post at the upcoming election, Fernando replied in the affirmative.

He said SLR was currently processing the complaints lodged, but observed that whoever takes the helm at the imminent election of office bearers, will need to effectively liaise with SLR, to run the major domestic competitions without any untoward incidents from a match officiating perspective.

He opined the only resolution to the current crisis facing the local match officiating setup is the establishment of the SLR Elite Referee Panel.

“If the situation does not show improvement then the SLR Elite Referee Panel will be the way forward. This Panel has been mooted to address the critical national shortage of qualified and competent match officials, and it is a system that will be unbiased, impartial and transparent,” the former flanker argued. 

He added that all national rugby bodies directly manage the elite referees to ensure neutrality, consistency and match integrity, and explained that Sri Lanka should not be an exception to the rule.  

The SLR President said he was yet seeking a response to his request from head of Asia Rugby (AR) Qais Al-Dhalai to fly down a couple of overseas-based match officials ahead of the start of the Super-Round of the Maliban Club League.

The ongoing Inter-Club League competition has been submerged in severe criticism by officials from contesting clubs, past players, and fans over what they perceive to be biased and inferior standard of officiating by most of those in the local referee pool.

A few high profile encounters have morphed into being a major talking-point in social media WhatsApp groups and within the domestic rugby circles.

Certain decisions made by match officials have also been roundly criticised and some even have called into question their competency to interpret the laws efficiently due to poor language skill.

This had prompted Sri Lanka Rugby to intervene and hire foreign referees ahead of the super-round with notions of forming an Elite panel as part of the concept of the national referee development plan.   

SLSRFA instructed to submit audit report or reschedule AGM

Meanwhile, the SLR President stressed that the controlling body has officially conveyed in writing to SLSRFA to finalise their audit report as per provisions of its own Constitution before Saturday (10), failing which they (SLSRFA) will need to reschedule its Annual General Meeting (AGM) for 2026.

He said the SLSRFA also has to adhere to the Sports Law and insisted that the Referees Society has no authority to supersede the laws and regulations of the land.

Source - The Morning