India forced to quit Women’s Asian Cup

Match against Chinese Taipei called off after 12 players test Covid +ve

NAVI MUMBAI: India were forced out of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup football tournament on Sunday after a dozen COVID-19 cases among their players led to the cancellation of a group match against Chinese Taipei minutes before kickoff here.

Apart from the COVID cases, two players were also laid low by injuries which made it impossible for India to field a team given that two of their footballers were already out of contention after being infected by the virus a few days ago.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said given the situation, Article 4.1 of the tournament rules comes into effect, which makes it clear that if a team fails to assemble for a match, it would be “considered to have withdrawn from the relevant Competition.” India failed to name the required minimum of 13 players for the Group A match against Chinese Taipei before the game.