After days of uncertainty, Ghana have been struck off the football competition in the inaugural Afro-Asian Games as it failed to arrive even a day after the commencement of the tournament.
Though officials maintained till last night that the team would come, they drew up a revised schedule for the tournament this afternoon.
As per the revised schedule, Group A has now been reduced to three teams - India, Malaysia and Rwanda - a development which almost assures the hosts a place in the semi-finals.
India won their opening match against Rwanda on Wednesday and even a draw against Malaysia on Friday will be enough for them to make it to the last four.
Earlier, the football tournament was postponed by a day, to Wednesday, after Ghana and Rwanda failed to arrive in time.
The absence of Ghana, ranked among the top 10 teams in Africa, comes as the latest blow to the football competition, which lost much of its glamour after other big African teams, Cameroon, Nigeria and Senegal, expressed their inability to participate.