Football Kenya Federation has summoned club representatives for urgent consultations as a legal dispute over promotion and relegation continues to delay the start of the 2026/27 SportPesa Premier League.
The league was scheduled to begin on September 19, but FKF indefinitely postponed the opening after conflicting High Court orders created uncertainty over the composition of the top flight.
FKF Acting General Secretary and CEO Dennis Gicheru invited clubs to send up to three representatives, including legal representatives where necessary, to the consultative meeting aimed at finding a way out of the deadlock.
The dispute centres on Kariobangi Sharks and Mombasa United, whose promotion and relegation status has become the subject of competing court directives.
THE DISPUTE BEHIND THE DELAY
At the centre of the crisis is a disagreement over which FKF regulations should govern promotion and relegation for the new season.
Under the 2019 regulations, the team finishing 16th in the Premier League plays a promotion-relegation playoff against the team finishing third in the National Super League.
The 2025 regulations, however, changed the system by providing for three automatic promotions and relegations and removing the playoff mechanism.
The application of the newer rules resulted in Kariobangi Sharks being automatically relegated after finishing 16th in the 2025/26 campaign.
Sharks challenged the decision, bringing Mombasa United — the third-placed NSL team — into the dispute.
COURTS ISSUE CONFLICTING ORDERS
The situation became more complicated when courts issued different directives.
The High Court in Murang’a ordered that the league should not begin before a promotion-relegation playoff between Kariobangi Sharks and Mombasa United.
At the same time, the High Court in Kiambu issued conservatory orders directing FKF to provisionally publish fixtures that would include Mombasa United as the 18th team without a playoff.
The competing orders left FKF facing a difficult choice over how to proceed.
The federation subsequently postponed the league, warning that playing matches while the orders remained in force could expose clubs and the federation to significant legal risks.
FKF also raised concern that results could potentially be affected if matches were played in circumstances that later conflicted with court decisions.
CLUBS NOW FACE UNCERTAINTY
The postponement has left Premier League clubs without a settled start date for the new campaign.
Teams that had prepared for the September 19 opening must now adjust their training, player-management and competition plans while the dispute continues.
The uncertainty also affects commercial partners and other stakeholders whose activities depend on a functioning league calendar.
FKF has expressed concern about the increasing use of ordinary courts to resolve football disputes, noting that football regulations provide mechanisms intended to handle sporting matters outside the ordinary court system.
CRISIS EXTENDS BEYOND TWO CLUBS
Although Kariobangi Sharks and Mombasa United are at the centre of the legal dispute, the consequences extend across Kenyan football.
Players and coaches require regular competitive matches to maintain their preparation, while clubs need predictable calendars to organise travel, training, player contracts and sponsorship commitments.
The uncertainty has also generated wider criticism of the state of domestic football.
Tusker captain Abud Omar has criticised disruptions affecting the Kenyan league, arguing that instability in domestic competition can affect the country’s ability to prepare players for higher-level international football.
The concerns come as Kenya, together with Uganda and Tanzania, prepares to co-host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
FKF SEEKS A WAY FORWARD
The latest consultations are therefore an attempt to bring the affected parties together and establish a way forward.
FKF has invited representatives from clubs and allowed them to include legal representatives, highlighting the legal nature of the impasse.
For now, however, there is still no settled league calendar.
The immediate issues remain the status of Kariobangi Sharks, the position of Mombasa United and which promotion-relegation regulations should govern the 2026/27 season.
Until those questions are resolved, Kenya’s top-flight football remains on hold.
The league’s biggest fixture at the moment is therefore not being played on the pitch — it is being fought over the rules governing who gets to play.
