India had been pressured to tug out of the Asian Cup after not fielding a crew for his or her Group A match in opposition to Chinese Taipei on Sunday following the outbreak of Covid-19 inside the crew.
It is realized that after round a dozen members of the Indian camp examined constructive for the virus, they had been left with no possibility however to tug out of the essential encounter, thus stalling their marketing campaign.
#WAC2022 , India’s match in opposition to Chinese Taipei has been known as off following a Covid-19 outbreak within the Indian crew pic.twitter.com/F5DjsvWfdt
— Express Sports (@IExpressSports) 23 January 2022
The Asian Football Confederation stated in an announcement that India failed to call not less than 13 gamers required to play the match. In accordance with paragraph 4.1 of the “Special Rules Applicable to AFC Competitions during the COVID-19 Pandemic” (Special Rules), India was subsequently unable to take part within the Match and the complete provisions of Article 4.1 shall apply,” the AFC stated in an announcement. .
Rule 4.1 states: “If a collaborating crew/collaborating membership has lower than 13 (13) collaborating gamers (together with one) [1] goalkeeper) is obtainable for the match for any purpose (whether or not associated to COVID-19 or not), the collaborating crew / collaborating membership involved will be unable to take part within the match. Such collaborating crew/collaborating membership shall be held accountable for non-matching and shall be deemed to have withdrawn from the respective competitors.
At 6.30 p.m., an hour earlier than the beginning at 7.30 p.m., 4 match officers and gamers from Chinese Taipei took to the sphere for normal pre-match observe drills. But there was no signal of the Indians, who’re believed to haven’t even made the journey to the DY Patil Stadium.
At 7.10 pm, the Taipei gamers went to the dressing room to vary their garments. At 7.30 pm AFC formally canceled the match.
The All India Football Federation didn’t remark.
This was India’s first look within the Asian Cup after 19 years. The crew was aiming to succeed in the quarter-finals however Sunday’s defeat will spoil their hopes.
The 12-nation match is being held in a bio-bubble, with no spectators allowed contained in the venues and gamers just about reduce off from the surface world. However, there have been two constructive circumstances within the Indian camp forward of their first match in opposition to Iran, which resulted in a goalless draw.
The match in opposition to world quantity 39 Chinese Taipei was important for India to maintain alive its quarter-final hopes. Hours earlier than kickoff, nevertheless, studies of an outbreak inside the group.
The AFC stated that the match would proceed with out hosts. “The AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022™ will be played as scheduled with the group winners, runners-up and the two best third-placed teams qualifying for the quarter-finals,” it stated. “The matter will now be referred to the concerned AFC committee(s) as per the rules in force.”
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
