The 2021–22 MFA Elite Division was the 109th season of the

MFA Elite Division Mumbai Premier League, formerly known as the ''MFA Elite Division or MDFA Elite Division'', is the state football leagues in India, first tier of the Mumbai Football League competition. In March 2022, the Mumbai Premier League was rechristened ...

, the top-tier

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

league in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, a city in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. The 2020–21 season was called off due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The league format was restructured in 2018-19 season and two groups were formed. In 2021, the groups were renamed the MFA Elite Premier League and MFA Elite Corporate League. Aaditya Thackeray was re-elected president of the Mumbai Football Association.

Mumbai City FC Mumbai City Football Club is an Indian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is part of the City Football Group. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of the Ind ...

is considered Mumbai's premier club, having participated in the 2021–22 Indian Super League season and the

2022 AFC Champions League The 2022 AFC Champions League was the 41st edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 20th under the current AFC Champions League title. This edition was the last in an all-y ...

, while

Kenkre FC Kenkre Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra. Founded in 2000, the club currently competes in the MFA Elite Division of Mumbai Football League. Nicknamed "Mumbaikars", they previously pa ...

was Mumbai's representative at the

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

. However, Mumbai City hasn't competed in the MFA Elite League since 2019 when their U-18 team was suspended for assaulting the assistant referee. Karnatak Sports Association were the champions of the 2019–20 MFA Elite Division.

Format

The

consists of two parallel leagues, the MFA Elite Premier League and the MFA Elite Corporate League. This season, the Elite Premier League has 18 teams while the Elite Corporate League has 14. Only the teams from the MFA Elite Premier League are considered for promotion to the

I-League 2nd Division The I-League 2 is an Indian men's professional association football, football league. It is the 3rd tier of the Indian football league system, behind the Indian Super League and the I-League. It operates as a system of promotion and relegation ...

. In the League stage, teams from their respective leagues play each other once. The teams finishing at the top of their respective league are crowned winners. The winners and the next two teams from each league qualify for the Harwood Champions League where they will play each other once in a joint league. The leaders will be declared the champions. This tournament is expected to run from the 27th June to 11th July at the

Cooperage Ground The Cooperage Football Ground is a Association football, football stadium located in Nariman Point, Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is predominantly home to multiple Mumbai Football League clubs. The Western India Football Association has operated fro ...

, Mumbai.

Stadiums

Matches were played at the

in Nariman Point, Neville D’Souza Football Turf in

Bandra Bandra ( æːɳɖɾa is a coastal suburb located in Mumbai, the largest city of the Konkan division in Maharashtra, India. The area is located to the immediate north of the River Mithi, which separates Bandra from the Mumbai City district. It ...

, and

Mumbai Football Arena Mumbai Football Arena is a association football, football stadium in Mumbai, India. It is located in the Andheri Sports Complex. It is one of the few football-only built stadiums in the country. Routine usage It has served as the home stadium ...

Andheri Andheri (Help:IPA/Marathi, �n̪d̪ʱeɾiː is a suburb situated in Western Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Government and politics For administrative purposes, Andheri is bifurcated into Andheri (west) and Andheri (east). Andheri (west) comes ...

Format

Stadiums

Teams

League table

Elite Premier League

Elite Corporate League

Harwood Champions League

See also

References