AFC Women's Asian Cup 2022: India's dream shattered as hosts withdraw from competition

The Indian dream was shattered on Sunday, as the hosts who didn't even have to travel anywhere, failed to field the minimum number of players required as per rules against Chinese Taipei in their AFC Women's Asian Cup 2022 encounter. In the aftermath of Sunday's events, India have withdrawn from AFC Women's Asian Cup following a covid-outbreak in the camp. 

All of India's matches will be null and void, confirmed a statement from AFC. It has to go down as a massive setback for the team as they had been hoping to reach the quarter-final stage. 

Two Indian players tested positive ahead of India's opening group game against Iran. The Indian eves played a 0-0 draw with Iran, who are ranked below India in the AFC rankings. That meant that the Blue Tigresses faced an uphill task of upstaging Chinese Taipei in their second game to have a chance of reaching the next round. 

But as fate would have it, the Indian players didn't even get the chance to prove their mettle, as they didn't have the minimum 13 players required to compete in the game following a covid-outbreak in the camp. 

OFFICIAL

India have withdrawn from the #WAC2022. All their matches are now cancelled and considered null and void!https://t.co/sEBQ6hQ5P2 — #WAC2022 (@afcasiancup) January 24, 2022

The silence was deafening on Sunday, as fans awaited an official statement regarding the whole situation. Many wondered how did the hosts, who didn't even have to travel anywhere, suffered such a cruel fate. 

AFC on Monday released a statement that confirmed the heartbreaking exit of Indian eves, who had been working hard day and night to make a billion people proud. 

"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which was scheduled to take place at the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on January 23, India is considered to have withdrawn from the competition in accordance with Article 4.1 of the ‘Special Rules Applicable to AFC Competitions during the COVID-19 pandemic’," read the statement. 

It further continued, "All matches of India are now cancelled and considered null and void pursuant to Article 6.5.5 of the Competition Regulations." 

This leaves only three teams in Group A, China, Chinese Taipei and Iran, in contention for places to reach the next round of competition.