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Overseas Football Players who are eligible to Represent Sri Lanka

Published

5 years ago

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There are currently numerous players with strong Sri Lankan roots who play football in Overseas Leagues. Football Sri Lanka has kept a close eye on all these players, tracking their progress and skill levels to see which players can bring a positive impact to the Sri Lankan National Team

The following five players have already applied for dual citizenship and started the necessary processes of making it into the National squad, while the rest are yet to start any such procedures;

Players who are already applied for the Dual Citizenship to represent the National Team

  1. Hamilton O Mervyn

Age                  : 32 yrs. (DOB: 8 Oct 1988)

Height              : 6’

Citizenship       : British

Position           : Midfield

Current club    : Whitehawk FC

League            : Whitehawk FC is a Semi Professional, non-league English football club based in Whitehawk, a suburb of the city of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex. Whitehawk FC play in the Isthmian South East Division (English non-league step 4 – Level 8)

Category        : Sri Lankan Mother

2. Reef Sebastian Peries

Age : 19 yrs (DOB: 30 Oct. 2001)

Height              : 5’ 11”

Citizenship       : British

Position           : Right Wing Back

Current club    : Woking FC (Academy Team)

League            : Woking Football Club is a semi-professional association football club, based in Woking, Surrey, England. Founded in 1889, the club plays its home matches at Kingfield Stadium and is nicknamed the Cardinals. Currently, they compete in the National League, the fifth tier of English football.

Category        : Sri Lankan Grandparent

3. Ryan Anthony Peries

Age                  :18 yrs (DOB: 20 Jul 2002)

Height              : 6’ 2”

Citizenship     : British

Position           : Midfield

Current club  : Bournemouth University FC

Category        : Sri Lankan Grandparent

4. Haneef Mohamed Haseef Mohamed 

Age                  : 27 yrs (DOB: 23 Aug 1993)

Height              : 5’ 6”

Citizenship       : Switzerland

Position           : Left / Right Winger, Attacking Midfielder

Current club    : FC Engstringen

League            : FC Engstringen plays in the Football Association of the Zurich Region FVRZ   3rd League of Swiss Football Association.

Category        : Sri Lankan Father & Mother

5. Vigneswaran Dagsan

Age                  : 16 yrs (DOB: 02 May 2004)

Height              : 6’

Citizenship       : Switzerland

Position           : Center Back / Midfielder

Current club    : Lausanne Sport

League            : FC Engstringen plays in the Football Association of the Zurich Region FVRZ   3rd League of Swiss Football Association.

Category        : Sri Lankan Father & Mother

Players who are eligible to apply for the Dual Citizenship to represent the National Team

  1. Claudio Matthias

Age : 21 yrs (DOB: 7 July 1999)

Height              : 6’ 1”

Citizenship      : Deutsch (German)

Position           : Center Back, Left Back, Right Back

Current club    : SC Freiburg

League            : Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg, is a German football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga. SC Freiburg II is the reserve team of German association football club SC Freiburg plays in the Regionalliga Südwest (English: Regional League Southwest) is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regionalliga Bayern, Regionalliga Nordost, Regionalliga Nord, and the Regionalliga West.

Category        : Sri Lankan Mother

2. Canistan Regize

Age                  : 23 yrs (DOB: 25 Mar 1997)

Height              : 5’ 7”

Citizenship       : French

Position           : Midfielder

Current club    : FC Montceau, Boergogne

League            : Football Club Montceau Bourgogne is a French association football team founded in 1948. They are based in Montceau-les-Mines, Bourgogne, France and are currently playing in the Championnat National 3. The league serves as the fifth division of the French Football League.

Category        : Sri Lankan Father & Mother

3. Kelly Garrett Christopher

Age                  : 24 yrs (DOB: 13 Apr 1996)

Height              : 6’ 1”

Citizenship       : British

Position           : Central Midfield

Current club   : Almyros Gaziou FC (Greece)

League           : Almyros Gaziou FC plays in the Gamma Ethniki the fourth highest  football league in Greece.

Category       : Sri Lankan Mother

4. Manimeldura Leon Perera

Age : 23 yrs (DOB: 1 Jan 1997)

Height              : 5’ 8”

Citizenship : Deutsch (German)

Position           : Central Midfield

Current club    : MTV Treubund Lüneburg

League : MTV Treubund Lüneburg competes in the Landesliga Lüneburg, called the Bezirksoberliga Lüneburg from 1979 to 1994 and 2006 to 2010, is the sixth tier of the German football league system and the second-highest league in the German state of Lower Saxony.

Category        : Sri Lankan Father

5. Tiffan Anthonypillai

Age                  : 18 yrs. (DOB: 21 Sep 2002)

Height              : 5’ 7”

Citizenship       : Canadian

Position           : Right Back

Current club    : Cs Saint-Laurent, Montréal,Canada

Category        : Sri Lankan Mother

6. Chikereuba Tochokwu Francis

Age : 27 yrs (DOB: 24 Apr 1993)

Height              : 6’ 3”

Citizenship       : Nigerian

Position           : Central Defender

Current club : Java Lane SC, Colombo

League            : Champions League – Sri Lanka

Category        : Sri Lankan Spouse & Children

7. Poopathithasan Nilooshan

Age                  : 19 yrs (DOB: 19 Jul 2001)

Height              : TBC

Citizenship       : Deutsch (German)

Position           : TBC

Current club    : TBC

Category     : Sri Lankan Mother

Furthermore, Waseem Razeek and his brother Muzakir Razeek already eligible to represent the country.

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The notice, dated March 12, refers to a report aired on March 5 by ARY News which alleged that Mirza had misbehaved with a female staff member at the team hotel in Kandy and that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had fined him over the incident.

Mirza has strongly denied the allegations, with his legal team describing the broadcast as baseless and damaging to his reputation. The PCB also rejected the claims through its official X account, calling the report “agenda-driven fake news” and stressing that no disciplinary action had been taken against the player.

In the legal notice, Mirza’s lawyers demanded that ARY News and Hashmi retract the report from all platforms, issue an unconditional public apology, and pay damages of 100 million Pakistani rupees for the harm caused to his reputation and goodwill. The notice further warns that court proceedings will be initiated if these demands are not met within seven days.

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Afghanistan’s White-ball Series against Sri Lanka officially postponed

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March 11, 2026

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The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announces that the Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka bilateral series, originally scheduled to commence on 13 March in the United Arab Emirates, has been rescheduled to the last quarter of 2026 due to logistical challenges, including flight constraints arising from the ongoing regional situation.

The series, which was to mark the first occasion of Afghanistan hosting Sri Lanka, was scheduled to feature six white-ball matches. The three T20 International matches were planned to be staged at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on 13, 15, and 17 March, followed by three One Day Internationals at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on 20, 22, and 25 March.

Following the receipt of the required sanction from the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), preparations had been finalized for hosting the matches across the two venues. However, in early March, unforeseen developments created logistical constraints that affected travel arrangements and operational planning for the series.

To address the situation, the Afghanistan Cricket Board held a series of consultations with key stakeholders, including the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), Sharjah Cricket Stadium (SCS), and Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS). A joint meeting convened by the ACB on 4 March resulted in a recommendation to monitor the situation and reassess by 6 March, in the hope that conditions would improve. A subsequent follow-up meeting on 7 March recommended waiting until 9 March before making a final determination.

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Throughout this process, the Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC) was kept fully informed, and the decision to postpone the series was made in consultation and with the consent of Sri Lanka Cricket.

The preferred venue for the rescheduled series remains the United Arab Emirates, and the new dates will be announced in due course following further coordination between the respective boards and stakeholders.

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