The 2021 I-League Qualifiers or Hero I-League Qualifiers 2021 (for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th season of

I-League 2nd Division I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind Indian ...

since its establishment in 2008. The league winner secured place in

2021–22 I-League The 2021–22 I-League (also known as Hero I-League for sponsorship reasons) is the 15th season of I-League, last as the top tier of Indian football league system, since its establishment in 2007. All the matches are hosted in a bio-secure bubb ...

season. Subrata Dutta, senior vice president of

All India Football Federation The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the national governing body of football in India. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of football and affiliated to Asian Football Confederation. It is affiliated to Ministry o ...

, 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 couldn't 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 Chennai City Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, that last competed in the I-League, then one of the top flights of Indian football league system, and Chennai Football League. Established in ...

from participating in 2021–22 season on failing to comply with club licensing regulations, and hence second-placed qualifiers team

Kenkre FC Mumbai Kenkre FC (also known as Kenkre Football Club) is an Indian professional association football, football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Founded in 2000, the club currently competes in MFA Elite Division of Mumbai Football League, and ...

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 Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

) #

Oil India FC Oil India Football Club is an Indian professional football club from Duliajan in Assam. The club was founded by Oil India in 1964. It also participated in I-League 2nd Division, then second tier football tournament of Indian football league sy ...

, Elevenstar Club (

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

) #

Shirsh Bihar United FC Shirsh Bihar United is a professional association football, football club from Bihar, based in Muzaffarpur. It currently participates in Bihar State Soccer League. History Shirsh Bihar United FC was first nominated for I-League 2nd division i ...

(

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

) # Indian Heroes Daman and Diu FC, Young Hearts FC (

Daman and Diu Daman and Diu (; ) was a former union territory in northwestern India. With an area of , it was the smallest administrative subdivision of India on the mainland. The territory comprised two districts, Damaon and Dio island, geographically sep ...

) # Sports Hostel Cuttack (

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

) #

Delhi FC Delhi Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Delhi. Founded in 1994, the club competes in both I-League and Delhi Premier League. The club will compete in 2023–24 I-League, the second tier of Indian football, followin ...

Garhwal FC Garhwal Football Club (also known as Garhwal Heroes FC) is an Indian professional football club based in New Delhi. The club lifted its first FD Senior Division league title in 1986, which became one of the most successful seasons in their hist ...

(

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

) #

Vasco SC Vasco may refer to: * Basque language, called ''vasco'' in Spanish * ''Vasco'' (album), a two-part EP by Ricardo Villalobos * Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer * Vasco da Gama, Goa, a city in India, often called simply Vasco * Club de Regatas Va ...

(

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

) # Gandhinagar FC,

ARA FC Ahmedabad Racquet Academy Football Club (commonly known as ARA FC Gujarat) is an Indian professional football club based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. They have competed in the I-League 2nd Division. ARA FC is the first professional team from Gujara ...

(

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

) #

Techtro Swades United FC Techtro Swades United Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Una, Himachal Pradesh. The club competes in the Himachal Football League. The club was established on 29 August 2020, and began their first competitive seaso ...

, Shimla FC (

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

) #

Peerless SC Peerless Sports Club (formerly known as Peerless FC), or simply Peerless, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1993, the club is owned by Peerless Group and currently competes in the Calcutta Premier ...

Bhawanipore FC Bhawanipore FC is an Indian professional football club based in Bhowanipore, Kolkata, West Bengal. The club was established in 1910, and competed in the I-League 2nd division in 2020–21 season, then second tier of Indian football league syste ...

(

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

) #

Hyderya Sports FC Hyderya Sports FC, also known as Hyderya Kashmir Football Club (HKFC), is an Indian football club based in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, that competes in the JKFA Professional League, and was nominated for I-League Qualifiers. Nicknamed as ''Mou ...

, Downtown Heroes FC (

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

) #

Kerala United FC Kerala United Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Malappuram, Kerala. Founded in 1976 as ''Calicut Quartz FC'', the club was an amateur and academy side during its early years. In December 2011, they announced intent ...

, BASCO Othukkungal (

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

) #

FC Bengaluru United Football Club Bengaluru United is an Indian professional football club based in Bangalore, Karnataka. The club competed in 2021 I-League Qualifiers. Founded in 2018, the club mainly participated in local competitions including Bangalore Super ...

Kickstart FC Kickstart FC is an Indian professional football club from Karnataka. Their women's team participate in Indian Women's League. Men's side competes in the BDFA Super division. Kickstart FC was nominated for I-League 2nd Division in 2019 and 202 ...

(

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

) #

Madan Maharaj FC Madan Maharaj FC is an Indian professional football club based in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. It is also first professional football club from the state. They currently compete in Madhya Pradesh Premier League and were part of 2021 I-League Qualifier ...

(

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

) #

Ryntih FC Ryntih Football Club, also known as Ryntih Sports Club (previously ''Ryntih Sports & Culture Club)'', is an Indian professional football club based in Mawlai Mawdatbaki, Shillong, Meghalaya. Founded in 1998, the club competes in the Shillong Pr ...

(

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of As ...

) #

Rajasthan United FC Rajasthan United Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Founded in 2018 as ''JECRC CF'', the club academy participated in R-League A Division 2019, and was the inaugural winner. In 2020, ''JECRC CF'' w ...

Zinc Football Zinc Football, also known as Zinc Football Academy, is an Indian professional football academy club based in Zawar, a mining town in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The club competes in R-League A Division, the top tier league of the state. The academy was ...

(

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

) #

Corbett FC Corbett FC (previously known as the Amenity Sports Academy and the Corbett Tigers) is an Indian professional football club based in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand. The club currently competes in Uttarakhand Super League and has participated in 2021 I-L ...

(

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

) # PIFA Sports FC,

(

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

)

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

, runners up of Jammu & Kashmir Professional League, after finding the bank guarantee submitted by them to be ''not genuine''.

Personnel and kits

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.

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

was found to have produced fake bank guarantee documents.

Preliminary round

Group A

Group B

Finals

Statistics

Top scorers

References

External links

I-LeagueAIFF
{{DEFAULTSORT:2021 I-League Qualifiers I-League 2nd Division seasons