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FKF holds pre-season meeting as Kenyan Premier League remains trapped in legal limbo
02nd September, 2026 03:23 PM
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) held a pre-season meeting on Wednesday, September 2, 2026 with clubs ahead of the 2026/27 campaign, even as the country’s top-flight football season remains suspended by an escalating legal dispute over promotion and relegation.
The meeting, involving representatives of the league clubs, was led by FKF Chief Executive Officer Dennis Gicheru and Leagues and Competitions Head of Department Frank Ogolla. According to the federation, the discussions were aimed at aligning clubs on preparations and key issues ahead of the new campaign.
The meeting comes at a time when clubs should already be playing competitive matches rather than attending further pre-season planning sessions.
FKF had initially scheduled the new Premier League season to begin in August 2026. The federation’s approved calendar had set August 22, 2026 as the original kick-off date, while the National Super League was scheduled to begin on August 29, 2026.
Instead, the Premier League remains in limbo after legal challenges over the regulations governing promotion and relegation disrupted the federation’s plans.
Premier League start given greenlight
The Tuesday’s meeting comes shortly after the Murang’a High Court cleared the FKF to commence the 2026/27 league season. The court made it clear that its orders preventing the application of the 2025 rules do not prohibit the FKF from running the league under the 2019 regulations, hence advised the federation to proceed with the season under the 2019 regulations, which include the mandatory promotion/relegation playoff that has been at the centre of the dispute.
“On the issue of the commencement of the 2026/2027 league season, the court finds it is common ground between counsel for the Petitioner and counsel for the Respondent, and, indeed the same is not seriously in dispute, that the Federation may lawfully run its national leagues under the Federation of Kenya Football Rules and Regulations Governing Kenyan Football, 2019, which remain unaffected by this Petition; in fact, they were never the subject of the orders of 12th June, 2026.”
Lady Justice Dorah Chepkwony also clarified that:
“Those orders restrain reliance on the 2025 Rules and the commencement of the league season ‘on the basis of the impugned automatic relegation without the mandatory play-off’; they do not restrain the Respondent from running a season conducted under the 2019 Rules, including the mandatory play-off which those Rules provide for,” the judge ruled.
Kariobangi Sharks dispute at the centre of the crisis
The immediate dispute revolved around Kariobangi Sharks and the regulations used to determine relegation from the 2025/26 Premier League.
Sharks finished 16th in the 18-team competition with 38 points and were relegated alongside Sofapaka and Bidco United under the 2025 regulations. Those regulations provided for three automatic relegations, while three teams from the National Super League were promoted.
Sharks challenged their relegation before the Sports Disputes Tribunal, arguing that the older 2019 regulations should apply. Under those rules, only the bottom two teams would be automatically relegated, while the team finishing 16th would have an opportunity to retain its Premier League status through a promotion-relegation playoff.
The Sports Disputes Tribunal eventually upheld FKF’s position and dismissed Sharks’ challenge. The club subsequently moved to the High Court, turning what began as a promotion and relegation dispute into a problem affecting the entire new league season. The federation had released the fixtures for Round One matches to commence on Monday, August 31, 2026, but the league clubs chairmen disputed the move, further complicating the fragile situation.
