Arunava about Football A look at football & the world through my eyes!
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The 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup has been history for a week now and I still feel that India’s lost a huge chance and opportunity to qualify for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
But do I say so?
I feel this 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup fiasco for the Blue Tigresses is like the AIFF’s decision in 1950 not to send the men’s team to the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, which still remains one of the biggest blunders in the history of Indian football.
From now on, January 23, 2022 will be remembered as a black day for Indian football as the Blue Tigresses, the India Women’s national football team, could not play their game against Chinese Taipei in the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup at the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai due to multiple positive COVID-19 cases.
India had at the time that many positive COVID-19 cases within the playing squad that they did not have the minimum requirement of 13 players for the game to go ahead, which meant for the hosts that they as per the ‘Special Rules Applicable to AFC Competitions during the COVID-19 pandemic’ (Special Rules) not only do not play the game that day but also are withdrawn from the competition, meaning India were out due to the pandemic.
The match against Iran does not count, the games against Chinese Taipei and China were not be played.
This was a disaster for Indian football as a whole and for the Blue Tigresses this outbreak meant that their dreams of staying in the hunt for a spot in the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup quarterfinals and then potentially reaching the 2023 FIFA World Cup inter-continental playoffs was over before the real challenge had started. I feel sad for the players, coaches and support staff, who had prepared over the last six months in a global pandemic, staying in a bio bubble for all this time. This was not supposed to end like this.
…chance to play in the #2023FIFAWomensWorldCup.
It’s a sad day for #IndianFootball.
Thanks all to the #pandemic 😢
— Arunava Chaudhuri | arunfoot (@Arunfoot) January 23, 2022
And who is to blame for all this?
Even tough AIFF president Praful Patel said that there should not be any finger pointing, the India Women’s head coach Thomas Dennerby only a couple of days later blamed tournament organisers, the Asian Football Confederation. But the host nation and local organisers were India and the AIFF, which does mean that our federation has to take the blame for what has happened.
But accountability within that set-up is something which we rarely get. This COVID-19 outbreak was an avoidable circumstance, but still it happened and it robbed India of a real chance to make it to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The team despite the pandemic improved in the months ahead of the continental competition and the Blue Tigresses were ready to challenge the best in Asia.
Congratulations to champions China, finalists Japan, semifinalists South Korea and Philippines besides playoff winners Vietnam to making it to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. While all the best wishes for Chinese Taipei and Thailand in the inter-continental playoffs.
And while writing these lines, again I feel that India’s lost a massive opportunity to qualify for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
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