2021 I-League Qualifiers
# 2021 I-League Qualifiers

The 2021 I-League Qualifiers or Hero I-League Qualifiers 2021 (for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th season of I-League 2nd Division since its establishment in 2008. The league winner secured place in 2021–22 I-League season.

Subrata Dutta, senior vice president of All India Football Federation, and AIFF league committee members held its meeting on June 26, 2021, agreeing that state associations which have conducted a league or qualifying championship, will be eligible to nominate teams for the qualifiers.

Even though states are allowed to nominate two teams, the AIFF said each state association will be represented by just one team in I-League qualifiers. The AIFF has made it clear that only those states which conduct a league will be allowed to nominate a team. At least two states made direct recommendations, but were turned down. AIFF allowed relaxation in case nominated clubs could not meet the financial criteria to play in I-League, if they were promoted.

On 4th December 2021, AIFF barred I-League club Chennai City FC from participating in 2021–22 season on failing to comply with club licensing regulations, and hence second-placed qualifiers team Kenkre FC was promoted.

## Teams

As per AIFF, ten teams will be selected to participate in I-League 2nd Division qualifiers, through State leagues. Only one team among the nominated two teams from each state will be selected.

### Selection criteria

* State association can nominate up to two teams based on the conducted qualifying tournament in most recent season.
* Nominated teams shall meet AIFF financial requirements and be liable to complete club licensing criteria.

### Nominated teams

The following teams were nominated by state associations:

* Vizag FC (Andhra Pradesh)
* Oil India FC, Elevenstar Club (Assam)
* Shirsh Bihar United FC (Bihar)
* Indian Heroes Daman and Diu FC, Young Hearts FC (Daman and Diu)
* Sports Hostel Cuttack (Odisha)
* Delhi FC, Garhwal FC (Delhi)
* Vasco SC (Goa)
* Gandhinagar FC, ARA FC (Gujarat)
* Techtro Swades United FC, Shimla FC (Himachal Pradesh)
* Peerless SC, Bhawanipore FC (West Bengal)
* Hyderya Sports FC, Downtown Heroes FC (Jammu and Kashmir)
* Kerala United FC, BASCO Othukkungal (Kerala)
* FC Bengaluru United, Kickstart FC (Karnataka)
* Madan Maharaj FC (Madhya Pradesh)
* Ryntih FC (Meghalaya)
* Rajasthan United FC, Zinc Football (Rajasthan)
* Corbett FC (Uttarakhand)
* PIFA Sports FC, Kenkre FC (Maharashtra)

### Selected teams

29 teams were nominated by 18 state associations. Only twelve teams fulfilled the AIFF criteria, and ten teams were accepted for the season. Later AIFF decided to withdraw Hyderya Sports FC, runners up of Jammu & Kashmir Professional League, after finding the bank guarantee submitted by them to be not genuine.

| | Region | Qualifying tournament | Qualifying tournament | Selected | City | Position |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Region | Name | Season | Selected | City | Position |
| 1 | Karnataka | Bangalore Super Division | 2020–21 | FC Bengaluru United | Bangalore | Champions |
| 2 | Kerala | Kerala Premier League | 2020–21 | Kerala United FC | Malappuram | Semi-final |
| 3 | Gujarat | Gandhinagar Premier League | 2020-21 | ARA FC | Ahmedabad | Champions |
| 4 | Delhi | Delhi Senior Division League | 2020-21 | Delhi FC | Delhi | 2nd place |
| 5 | Rajasthan | R-League A Division | 2020-21 | Rajasthan United FC | Bhilwara | 2nd place |
| 6 | Madhya Pradesh | Madhya Pradesh Premier League | 2021 | Madan Maharaj FC | Bhopal | Champions |
| 7 | Meghalaya | Shillong Premier League | | Ryntih FC | Shillong | League suspended |
| 8 | Maharashtra | MFA Elite Division | | Kenkre FC | Mumbai | League not conducted |
| 9 | Uttarakhand | Uttarakhand Super League | | Corbett FC | Rudrapur | League not conducted |

## Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| ARA FC | Vivek Nagul | Bala Dahir | SEVEN | Amul |
| Corbett FC | Caetano Pinho | Subodh Kumar | Nivia Sports | Amenity Sports Academy |
| Delhi FC | Surinder Singh | Anwar Ali | Spartan | Spartan |
| Bengaluru United | Richard Hood | Dharmaraj Ravanan | Six5six Sports | The Organic World |
| Kenkre FC | Akhil Kothari | Ali Azhar Delhiwala | Hummel | |
| Kerala United FC | Bino George | Arjun Jayaraj | SEGA | Micro Health Laboratories |
| Madan Maharaj FC | Amit Kumar Jaiswal | Mehtab Hossain | Rocky Sports | Kamla Devi Public School |
| Rajasthan United FC | Vikrant Sharma | Ali Ola Smith | AIO Sports | MISTK |
| Ryntih FC | Wallamkupar Kharpran | Banpynkhrawnam Nongkhlaw | T10 Sports | Samkhamti |

## Foreign players

Each club could register up to three foreign players in their squad. One of the foreign players had to be from an AFC member nation.

| Team | Player 1 | Player 2 | AFC player |
| - | - | - | - |
| ARA FC | Hamidou Dieye | Bala Dahir | Vladislav Nuriev |
| Corbett FC | Rogelio Juárez | John Chidi | |
| Delhi FC | Sérgio Barboza | Willis Plaza | |
| FC Bengaluru United | Luka Majcen | Pedro Manzi | |
| Kenkre FC | Zacharie Mbenda | | |
| Kerala United FC | Gabriel Lima Silva | Francis Nwankwo | |
| Madan Maharaj FC | Loveday Enyinnaya | William Twala | |
| Rajasthan United FC | Akeem Abioye | | |
| Ryntih FC | | | |

## Format

The ten participating teams have been divided into two groups of five. They will face each other once in the first league leg.

Teams finishing at the top two group positions will proceed to the Final round, where they will play against each other once in a round-robin format. The team that finishes top after the end of 26 matches, will earn promotion to the Hero I-League 2021–22 season.

26 matches are set to be played in the entire tournament, with 20 of them being in the group stage, while six matches will be played in the Final round.

The total number of teams was reduced to nine, after Hyderya Sports FC was found to have produced fake bank guarantee documents.

## Preliminary round

### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Rajasthan United | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 5 | Qualified for Finals |
| 2 | Madan Maharaj | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 5 | Qualified for Finals |
| 3 | Ryntih | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Bengaluru United | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 2 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Delhi | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 12 | Qualified for Finals |
| 2 | Kenkre | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 7 | Qualified for Finals |
| 3 | Kerala United | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 6 | |
| 4 | Corbett | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 2 | |
| 5 | ARA | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 1 | |

## Finals

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Rajasthan United (C) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 7 | Promotion to 2021–22 I-League |
| 2 | Kenkre | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 5 | Promotion to 2021–22 I-League |
| 3 | Delhi | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 4 | |
| 4 | Madan Maharaj | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | −9 | 0 | |

## Statistics

### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Anwar Ali Jr. | Delhi FC | 4 |
| 2 | Sérgio Barboza | Delhi FC | 3 |
| 3 | Shubham Bhowmick | Madan Maharaj FC | 2 |
| 3 | Sukjit Singh | Rajasthan United FC | 2 |
| 3 | Jiten Murmu | Madan Maharaj FC | 2 |
| 3 | Sheen Stevenson Sohktung | Ryntih FC | 2 |
