On January 23, local time, due to the outbreak of a serious epidemic in the team, more than 12 team members were infected with the new crown, and the match with the Chinese Taipei team was suspended on the same day, and the third round of the group match between the Chinese women's football team and the Indian women's football team was also cancelled at the same time.
It is worth mentioning that the AFC is not prepared for the outbreak of the event.
On January 23, before the Indian women's football team and the Chinese Taipei women's football team, in the case that the Indian women's football team had determined that there were many players infected and the number of players was uneven, the two teams had not yet received the notice of the cancellation of the game, and the Chinese Taipei women's football team entered the stadium in Mumbai as scheduled in accordance with the competition regulations, and the referee on duty also entered the competition field in accordance with the pre-match requirements and began the pre-match preparations.
Until this time, the AFC has not officially announced the cancellation of the game, and the Indian women's football team has not appeared on the field.
After that, stadium security began to ban the media from entering the scene, and at the same time, the referees began to leave the scene, and the game was eventually cancelled by the AFC.
According to the official website of the AFC, after the cancellation of the Match between the Indian Women's Football Team and the Chinese Taipei Women's Football Team, the match between the Chinese Women's Football Team and the Indian Women's Football Team on January 26 was also cancelled.
At present, only the Chinese Taipei women's football team and Iran are left in Group A, which will start on January 26.
It is understood that the Indian women's football team has had confirmed cases before the start of the Asian Cup, and at least 2 players have tested positive, but still appeared in the first match against the Iranian women's football team.
After that match, the number of infections in the Indian team increased to 12, while 4 staff members in the team tested positive, for a total of 16 infections. The AFC has not confirmed this figure, but it has raised concerns among the participating teams.
At 7:30 p.m. on January 23, the Chinese Taipei women's football team appeared at the Mumbai Stadium according to the kick-off time, but the Indian women's football team did not appear. It is understood that the Indian team currently has only 9 players to play.
According to Article 4.1 of the Special Rules for the Outbreak of the AFC Season, the Indian women's football team was unable to meet the minimum requirement of 13 players (the official number of applicants for the event was 23) after the outbreak of the epidemic, so the match was cancelled.
Article 6 of the AFC India Women's Asian Cup Competition Regulations 2022 stipulates that the penalties for "withdrawing" from a match include fines and future disqualification, however, as the withdrawal is announced and confirmed by the AFC Women's Football Committee as a force majeure event, the above penalties will not apply to the host.
Empty stadium
In the other match of the group, the Chinese women's football team won a big victory, defeating the Iranian women's football team 7-0 and advancing to the knockout round early.
Since the Indian women's football team cannot participate in the last group stage, this means that the Chinese women's football team will directly prepare for the knockout match.
Head coach Shui Qingxia said after last night's big victory over Iran that the first half of the game was more urgent, but after correcting mistakes, the players improved. "The whole game is getting better and better, and I am very satisfied with the players."
She had hoped to send more substitutes to the final group stage, but after the match was cancelled, the team would go straight to the knockout stage preparations.
At present, there is a huge risk of epidemic in Chinese women's football, and under the premise of ensuring the game, the new crown virus has become the biggest enemy facing Chinese women's football in the Asian Cup.