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.

[3] AIFF allowed relaxation in case nominated clubs could not meet the financial criteria to play in I-League, if they were promoted.

[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.

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.

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