India was on Sunday forced out of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after a dozen COVID-19 cases in the host’s camp led to a last-minute cancellation of the Group A match against Chinese Taipei here.

The RT-PCR tests were conducted on Friday, with the results out Sunday morning. Besides the coronavirus cases, India was hit by injuries to two players, which made it impossible for the home team to name the mandatory 13-member matchday squad. Earlier, two members of the senior national team were forced into isolation a few days ago since they returned positive results.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the sport’s governing body in the continent, said that Article 4.1 of the tournament rules would come into effect. If a participating team/club has less than 13 players available for any reason, it would be considered to have withdrawn from the relevant competition, the AFC said. India, which played out a goalless draw against Iran in its opener, had been scheduled to meet China in its final group match on Wednesday but would be unable to field a team