Rules hurt India again as eFootball medal hopes end in bizarre forfeit
India’s eSports campaign at the Asian Games 2026 ended in frustrating fashion on Tuesday, with Danial Patel and Chinmay Sahoo exiting the eFootball competition without taking the field for their final Group F fixture. Mongolia’s failure to meet the stipulated check-in time resulted in a 0-0 forfeit win for India, but the outcome left them short on the goal difference needed to progress.
According to a report by The Bridge, Mongolia’s team leader arrived three minutes after the designated check-in deadline, after which the organisers awarded India the match as a forfeit. Patel and Sahoo had previously drawn 0-0 against Uzbekistan, making the final group game important for their chances of reaching the knockout stage.
India did collect the points, but the 0-0 scoreline did not improve its goal difference. Uzbekistan had earlier beaten Mongolia 2-0, winning the mobile and console matches 6-3 and 12-0, and that result gave them a sizeable advantage in the group standings.
India finished level with Uzbekistan on four points, but the goal-difference equation worked against Patel and Sahoo. They were also unable to qualify through the best second-placed route, with Thailand and Saudi Arabia taking those spots after finishing with goal differences of +3 and +2 respectively.
The early exit was a major disappointment for Patel in particular. He entered the Asian Games as the reigning Asian eFootball Mobile champion after winning the title at the FIFAe Continental Championship earlier this year, while a medal in Aichi-Nagoya would have given India its first official Asian Games eSports medal.A FORFEIT CHANGES INDIA'S FATE
The Indian team did not simply accept the result without raising an objection. Patel and Sahoo asked for the fixture to be played, but the organisers maintained that the forfeit was the prescribed outcome after Mongolia missed the check-in deadline.
“We protested and said that we want to play the games instead of a forfeit win, but they [officials] said a forfeit win is what the rules say,” Sahoo told The Bridge.
India was also given the option of pursuing a formal review, but the team decided against taking that route because it involved a fee of 500 US dollars (around Rs 47,800).
The goal difference remained the central issue. Patel said India would have needed a substantially different forfeit score to remain in the qualification equation. “Unless they gave us a 3-0, 3-0 walkover with a +6 goal difference, we were not qualifying,” he added.ANOTHER RULE-BASED SETBACK
The eFootball episode came soon after another Indian medal campaign at the Asian Games was decided through a competition regulation. Suchika Tariyal's women's 60kg traditional MMA semifinal against Singapore's Hui Hoon Teo was eventually settled using the weight criterion after the bout was declared a draw following India's protest.
Teo advanced after being found 700 grams lighter than Suchika at the morning weigh-in. India had paid 1,000 US dollars (around Rs 95,700) to challenge the original decision, but the outcome remained unchanged, with Suchika taking bronze.
India's eSports campaign in Aichi-Nagoya is still alive in other disciplines, with the Pokemon Unite, League of Legends and Puyo Puyo Champions teams remaining in contention. For Patel and Sahoo, however, their eFootball campaign ended without the opportunity to determine their fate through a match.- EndsPublished By: Debodinna ChakrabortyPublished On: Sep 23, 2026 11:24 IST
