Dilan Perera has been selected among the four referees in Asia to officiate in FIFA U17 World Cup in Chile to be held in October 2015.
The final selection was carried out by FIFA refereeing experts after analyzing hundreds of international referees in Asia for the four slots allocated to Asia. Dilan Perera proved his abilities at international level in over 150 games played all around Asia.
He is now serving as a FIFA International Referee for the past 11 years. The four Referees selected in Asia are from Qatar, Malaysia, UAE and Sri Lanka.
Earlier this year, Dilan was picked by Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to officiate in the AFC Asian Cup 2015 in Australia, one of the top most competitions in Asian Football. He officiated in the Asian Cup with his fellow Assistant Referee – Palitha Hemathunghe from Gampola.
He has also officiated in many important international tournaments such as AFC U22 Championship quarter final and final in Oman, AFC U19 Championship final in Myanmar, AFC Champions League 2014 – Pre Quarter Final in Saudi Arabia and also he has officiated in first edition of Indian Super League – (ISL) 2014 in India.
Dilan enters into the history book to be the first Referee to officiate in Asian Cup and in a FIFA U17 World Cup ever, while an Assistant Referee – Nimal Wickramathunghe has officiated in the FIFA World Cup – France in 1998.
Dilan is also one of the twelve prospective referees in the Asian Squad for the FIFA World Cup – Russia 2018. AFC has 46 member countries and over 300 International Referees.
Football Refereeing is not an easy task, requires great fitness level, knowledge, experience and ability to react quickly. There is no technology like replays and slow motions in football refereeing and a referee shall make a decision in split seconds.
“It was a great achievement for Sri Lanka football and we all are proud of Dilan Perera for taking our country name to the world level. He has lived his dream to be one of the best referees in Asia” commented Anura de Silva, the President of Football Federation of Sri Lanka.
“Dilan is a role model for any young referees to take up refereeing as a challenge. He is simply the best not only in South Asia but also one of the top referees in Asia. His commitment, hard work and his passion for refereeing have taken him to the world’s top level” stated Jaswar Umar, the General Secretary of Sri Lanka Football Referees Association.
The Minister of Sports of Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara has congratulated Dilan Perera on this remarkable achievement and personally looked into his preparations for this flagship event in Chile.
