I-League Qualifiers
Dates4 – 23 October
ChampionsRajasthan United[1]
PromotedRajasthan United
Kenkre FC
Matches played22
Goals scored57 (2.59 per match)
Top goalscorerAnwar Ali Jr. (4 goals)
Highest scoringBengaluru United 3–3 Madan Maharaj
(8 October 2021)
Corbett 1–5 Delhi
(9 October 2021)
Madan Maharaj 0–6 Delhi
(23 October 2021)
Longest winning run4 matches
(Delhi)
Longest unbeaten run6 matches
(Rajasthan United)
Longest winless run4 matches
(ARA, Corbett, Madan Maharaj)
Longest losing run3 matches
(ARA, Madan Maharaj)
Total attendance700
2020

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.[2]

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.[3] 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.[4]

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.[3]

Selection criteria

  1. State association can nominate up to two teams based on the conducted qualifying tournament in most recent season.
  2. Nominated teams shall meet AIFF financial requirements and be liable to complete club licensing criteria.[5]

Nominated teams

The following teams were nominated by state associations:[6]

  1. Vizag FC (Andhra Pradesh)
  2. Oil India FC, Elevenstar Club (Assam)
  3. Shirsh Bihar United FC (Bihar)
  4. Indian Heroes Daman and Diu FC, Young Hearts FC (Daman and Diu)
  5. Sports Hostel Cuttack (Odisha)
  6. Delhi FC, Garhwal FC (Delhi)
  7. Vasco SC (Goa)
  8. Gandhinagar FC, ARA FC (Gujarat)
  9. Techtro Swades United FC, Shimla FC (Himachal Pradesh)
  10. Peerless SC, Bhawanipore FC (West Bengal)
  11. Hyderya Sports FC, Downtown Heroes FC (Jammu and Kashmir)
  12. Kerala United FC, BASCO Othukkungal (Kerala)
  13. FC Bengaluru United, Kickstart FC (Karnataka)
  14. Madan Maharaj FC (Madhya Pradesh)
  15. Ryntih FC (Meghalaya)
  16. Rajasthan United FC, Zinc Football (Rajasthan)
  17. Corbett FC (Uttarakhand)
  18. 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.[7] 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.[8]

Region Qualifying tournament Selected City Position
Name Season
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 India Vivek Nagul NigeriaBala Dahir SEVEN Amul
Corbett FC India Caetano Pinho India Subodh Kumar Nivia Sports Amenity Sports Academy
Delhi FC India Surinder Singh India Anwar Ali Spartan Spartan
Bengaluru United India Richard Hood IndiaDharmaraj Ravanan Six5six Sports The Organic World
Kenkre FC India Akhil Kothari India Ali Azhar Delhiwala Hummel
Kerala United FC India Bino George India Arjun Jayaraj SEGA Micro Health Laboratories
Madan Maharaj FC India Amit Kumar Jaiswal India Mehtab Hossain Rocky Sports Kamla Devi Public School
Rajasthan United FC India Vikrant Sharma Nigeria Ali Ola Smith AIO Sports MISTK
Ryntih FC India Wallamkupar Kharpran India 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 Senegal Hamidou Dieye[9] Nigeria Bala Dahir Uzbekistan Vladislav Nuriev
Corbett FC Panama Rogelio Juárez Nigeria John Chidi
Delhi FC Brazil Sérgio Barboza[10] Trinidad and Tobago Willis Plaza[11]
FC Bengaluru United Slovenia Luka Majcen[12] Spain Pedro Manzi[12]
Kenkre FC Cameroon Zacharie Mbenda
Kerala United FC Brazil Gabriel Lima Silva[13] Nigeria Francis Nwankwo
Madan Maharaj FC Nigeria Loveday Enyinnaya South Africa William Twala
Rajasthan United FC Nigeria 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.[14]

The total number of teams was reduced to nine, after Hyderya Sports FC was found to have produced fake bank guarantee documents.[15][16]

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
3 Ryntih 3 1 0 2 4 4 0 3
4 Bengaluru United 3 0 2 1 4 6 2 2
Source: AIFF
4 October 2021 (2021-10-04) Rajasthan United 3–2 Ryntih Bangalore, Karnataka
15:45
  • Sanyasi 12'
  • S. Singh 45+1'
  • Thapa 67'
Report Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 30
Referee: Jamal Mohamed
6 October 2021 (2021-10-06) Rajasthan United 1–1 Bengaluru United Bangalore, Karnataka
15:45
  • S. Singh 78'
Report
Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 40
Referee: Lakshay
8 October 2021 (2021-10-08) Bengaluru United 3–3 Madan Maharaj Bangalore, Karnataka
15:45
Report
  • Bhowmick 13', 52'
  • Murmu 90+3'
Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 30
Referee: C. R. Srikrishna
11 October 2021 (2021-10-11) Ryntih 0–1 Madan Maharaj Bangalore, Karnataka
15:45 Report Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 20
Referee: R Kannan
13 October 2021 (2021-10-13) Madan Maharaj 1–1 Rajasthan United Bangalore, Karnataka
15:45
Report
  • Musharaf 90+4'
Stadium: FSV Arena
Attendance: 0
Referee: Surojit Das
13 October 2021 (2021-10-13) Bengaluru United 0–2 Ryntih Bangalore, Karnataka
15:45 Report
  • Sohktung 29'
  • Challam 77'
Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 40
Referee: Lakshay

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
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
Source: AIFF
5 October 2021 (2021-10-05) Kerala United 1–2 Kenkre Bangalore, Karnataka
12:30
  • Valiyattu 48'
Report
Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 20
Referee: Surojit Das
5 October 2021 (2021-10-05) Corbett 1–1 ARA Bangalore, Karnataka
15:45
  • Patil 15'
Report
  • Nuriev 75'
Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 30
Referee: Suresh Devaraj
7 October 2021 (2021-10-07) Delhi 3–0 ARA Bangalore, Karnataka
12:30
  • Temuri 29'
  • Barboza 36'
  • Thingnam 60'
Report Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 40
Referee: Ramachandran Venkatesh
7 October 2021 (2021-10-07) Kerala United 2–0 Corbett Bangalore, Karnataka
15:45 Report Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 30
Referee: V Eshwar Rao
9 October 2021 (2021-10-09) Corbett 1–5 Delhi Bangalore, Karnataka
12:30
  • Chidi 13'
Report
Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 15
Referee: Mrutyunjay Amatya
9 October 2021 (2021-10-09) ARA 1–2 Kenkre Bangalore, Karnataka
15:45
Report
  • Noorani 14'
  • Mhatre 66'
Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 40
Referee: Ranjita Devi Tekcham
12 October 2021 (2021-10-12) Kenkre 0–0 Corbett Bangalore, Karnataka
12:30 Report Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 10
Referee: Suresh Devaraj
12 October 2021 (2021-10-12) Delhi 2–1 Kerala United Bangalore, Karnataka
15:45
Report
  • Dhath 23'
Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 50
Referee: C. R. Srikrishna
14 October 2021 (2021-10-14) ARA 1–3 Kerala United Bangalore, Karnataka
12:30
  • Shaikh 83'
Report
Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 25
Referee: Jamal Mohamed
14 October 2021 (2021-10-14) Kenkre 0–1 Delhi Bangalore, Karnataka
15:45 Report
  • Bohham 2'
Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 20
Referee: Mrutyunjay Amatya

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
3 Delhi 3 1 1 1 7 2 +5 4
4 Madan Maharaj 3 0 0 3 0 9 9 0
Source: AIFF
(C) Champions

Matches

18 October 2021 (2021-10-18) Kenkre 1–0 Madan Maharaj Bangalore, Karnataka
12:30
Report Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 20
Referee: Ramachandran Venkatesh
18 October 2021 (2021-10-18) Delhi 0–1 Rajasthan United Bangalore, Karnataka
15:45 Report
Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 40
Referee: Surojit Das
20 October 2021 (2021-10-20) Delhi 1–1 Kenkre Bangalore, Karnataka
12:30
Report
  • Pandhare 56'
Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 40
Referee: Jamal Mohamed
20 October 2021 (2021-10-20) Madan Maharaj 0–2 Rajasthan United Bangalore, Karnataka
15:45 Report
  • Chhetri 88'
  • Hp. Singh 90+4'
Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 20
Referee: V Eshwar Rao
23 October 2021 (2021-10-23) Madan Maharaj 0–6 Delhi Bangalore, Karnataka
11:30 Report
Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 40
Referee: Surojit Das
23 October 2021 (2021-10-23) Rajasthan United 0–0 Kenkre Bangalore, Karnataka
15:00 Report Stadium: Bangalore Football Stadium
Attendance: 100
Referee: Ramachandran Venkatesh

Statistics

Top scorers

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

References

  1. Menon, Anirudh (27 October 2021). ""If you want a future for yourself, fight and take it" – The story behind Rajasthan United's I-League fairytale". www.espn.com. ESPN. AIFF Media. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  2. "Hero I-League 2021-22 to be held in Kolkata, League Committee decides via video conferencing". www.the-aiff.com. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  3. 1 2 Mergulhao, Marcus (14 July 2021). "One state, one team for I-League qualifiers". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  4. "Kenkre FC is all set to join I-League as Chennai City FC gets barred". The Bridge. Archived from the original on 4 December 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  5. Mergulhao, Marcus (7 August 2021). "I-League Qualifiers: AIFF to use financial criteria as tie-breaker to select teams". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  6. "States nominate 29 teams for I-League Qualifiers, AIFF to select 10". The Times of India. 4 August 2021. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  7. "12 teams fulfil criteria, 10 get nod for I-League Qualifiers". The Times of India. 31 August 2021. Archived from the original on 30 August 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  8. "AIFF Statement". www.the-aiff.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  9. Boruah, Pranjal Protim, ed. (18 May 2020). "Adjusting to 'new normal'". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  10. Apte, Tanay. "Durand Cup 2021: Indian Navy stun Delhi FC with late goal". www.sportskeeda.com. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  11. "Durand Cup 2021: Indian Navy down Delhi FC 2-1 | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  12. 1 2 "FC Bengaluru United sign foreign strikers Luka Majcen and Pedro Manzi for upcoming season". The Times of India. 26 August 2021. Archived from the original on 26 August 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  13. "A Brazilian to play for a Kerala club, but it is not Blasters or Gokulam". OnManorama. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  14. "Hero I-League Qualifiers 2021 to kick-off on October 4". www.the-aiff.com. Archived from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  15. "Hyderya Sports Kashmir FC Disqualified from I-League Qualifiers for Producing Fake Bank Guarantee". News18. 27 September 2021. Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  16. "AIFF disqualifies Hyderya Sports FC for producing fake bank guarantee". Sportstar. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
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