Indian Football: India out of the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2022

In a piece of very sad news for the Indian Football fraternity, the Indian Women's Football team is now out of the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2022.

Following the cancellation of the AFC Women's Asian Cup India 2022 Group A match between Chinese Taipei and India, which was scheduled to take place at the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on January 23, India is considered to have withdrawn from the competition in accordance with Article 4.1 of the 'Special Rules Applicable to AFC Competitions during the Covid-19 pandemic.

All matches of India are now cancelled and considered null and void pursuant to Article 6.5.5 of the Competition Regulations.

For the avoidance of doubt, all points and goals in those matches shall not be taken into consideration when determining the final rankings in the group in conformity with Article 7.3 of the Competition Regulations.

Additionally, based on Article 7.4 of the Competition Regulations, the calculation of the best third-placed Participating Teams among all groups shall be determined by the method set out in Appendix 2 of the AFC Competition Operations Manual.

In this regard, only three teams – China PR, Chinese Taipei and Islamic Republic of Iran - will now be participating in Group A of the Competition.

To avoid any possible disparity in the final comparison between all third-placed teams, the results of the matches in Group B and C between the first, second and third-placed teams against the fourth-placed teams will not be counted.

India was scheduled to play against Chinese Taipei today at their second Group A match of AFC Women's Asian Cup India 2022 campaigns at the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

However, the Indian team failed to name the required minimum of 13 players for the match and thus they had to withdraw from the match owing to a COVID-19 outbreak in the Indian camp.

"Following several positive cases of COVID-19, India failed to name the required minimum of 13 players for the Group A match against Chinese Taipei. In accordance with Article 4.1 of the 'Special Rules Applicable to AFC Competitions during the COVID-19 pandemic' (Special Rules), India was therefore unable to participate in the match and the full provisions of Article 4.1 will apply," the press release said.

The aftermath of this withdrawal is huge for the Indian team. India will lose all the 3 points from this match and they are mostly out of the AFC Women's Asian Cup as Mentioned in AFC's Article 4.1.

"If a Participating Team/Participating Club has less than thirteen (13) Participating Players (including one [1] goalkeeper) available for a Match for any reason (whether or not relating to COVID-19), the relevant Participating Team/Participating Club shall not be able to participate in the Match. Such Participating Team/Participating Club shall be held responsible for the Match not taking place and shall be considered to have withdrawn from the relevant Competition. The relevant Participating Team/Participating Club and it affiliated Member Association shall be subject to the provisions of the relevant Competition regulations regarding the consequences of withdrawal, as applicable," says article 4.1

However, there's still a glimmer of hope for the Indian team as there is an exception in the rule,

"In exceptional circumstances and provided that any rescheduling will not affect the Match Schedule determined by the AFC General Secretariat, the AFC Competitions Committee (or any sub-committee carrying out duties on its behalf) may grant an exception to the foregoing and allow the relevant Match to be rescheduled."

Now the future of the Indian Women's National team in this ongoing AFC Women's Asian Cup 2022 is in the AFC committee's hands.

"The matter will now be referred to the relevant AFC Committee(s) in accordance with the applicable regulations."