Opposition’s late check-in knocks India's eFootball team out of Asian Games 2026

Dubai: India’s eSports medal hopes at the 2026 Asian Games were ended by a bizarre turn of events after Mongolia failed to report on time for their eFootball Group F match on Tuesday.

Danial Patel and Chinmay Sahoo had started their campaign with a 0-0 draw against Uzbekistan in the three-team group. Uzbekistan then defeated Mongolia 2-0 across the mobile and console matches, securing a significant advantage on goal difference.

That left India needing a strong result against Mongolia, but the match never took place at the Aichi Sky Expo centre. Mongolia’s team leader arrived three minutes after the scheduled check-in time, resulting in a forfeit win for India with a 0-0 score.

“The Mongolian team leader arrived three minutes late than the check in time,” Patel said according to The Bridge.

“Due to this, we had a goal difference of 0 and Uzbekistan were able to top the group on goal difference,” he added.

India protested the decision and asked to play the match, but officials maintained that the rules required a forfeit. Sahoo said the team was also told it could pay $500 (Dh 1,836.2) for a judge panel review, but India decided against it.

The 0-0 result meant India could not advance as one of the best second-placed teams. Thailand and Saudi Arabia took those spots with goal differences of +3 and +2 respectively.

The exit is particularly disappointing for Patel, who is the reigning eFootball Asian champion.