January 23 – Disaster struck the Indian hosts of the Women’s Asian Cup today (January 23), when their crucial group qualifying game against Chinese Taipei at the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai was called off.
India’s squad have been hit by a number of positive covid-19 cases leaving them without the minimum 13 players required.
India drew their opening game against Iran and would have played their final game against group leaders China on Wednesday. The AFC website is currently showing that game as being cancelled and India’s game against Iran having been expunged from the Group A league table.
This leaves Chinese Taipei vs Iran as the only game left to played in the group. Both teams have already lost to China.
The AFC’s rules covering competitions during the pandemic state that a team unable to participate in a match shall be deemed to have withdrawn from the competition.
The rule does allow for the rescheduling of the match under exceptional circumstances if it can be fitted in. However, with an already tight schedule for the competition there seems little space to squeeze India back into the programme, and that assumes they would have enough players who have tested negative to allow them to put a team out.
One potential lifeline for India could be a change in competition rules, which is a provision within the Women’s Asian Cup rules. This looks like a long shot though and would need to be a very creative solution.
The AFC said in a statement: “The AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022™ will continue to be played as scheduled with the Group winners, runners-up and the two best third-placed teams qualifying to the Quarter-finals.
“The matter will now be referred to the relevant AFC Committee(s) in accordance with the applicable regulations.”
The AFC has been operating in a very tight covid bubble for all its competitions since the start of the pandemic. This is the first time a match has had be called off once competition has started.
The AFC said its “Medical Team continues to work closely with the Local Organising Committee and the AIFF to prioritise the health and wellbeing of the teams, officials and stakeholders.”
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