The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Monday formally announced India’s ouster from the ongoing Asian Cup for women here, saying that all their matches stand “null and void” after the hosts’ withdrawal from the clash against Taiwan owing to a massive Covid-19 outbreak in their camp.

A day after India failed to field a team against Taiwan following 12 players’ RT-PCR reports coming positive, the AFC issued a statement confirming that the home side’s “withdrawal”.

“Following the cancellation of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022 Group A match between Chinese Taipei and India... India is considered to have withdrawn from the competition in accordance with Article 4.1 of the ‘Special Rules Applicable to AFC Competitions during the Covid-19 pandemic’,” the AFC said. “All matches of India are now cancelled and considered null and void.”

The continental body added that the result of the lone India match so far, the draw against Iran, will not be taken into consideration while determining the final standings in the group.

Now, only three teams — China, Taiwan and Iran — will be participating in Group A of the competition.