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Kariobangi Sharks, Mombasa United agree to FKF PL playoff as FKF moves to end league standoff
24th September, 2026 12:08 PM
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) has brokered an agreement between Kariobangi Sharks and Mombasa United to settle the promotion and relegation dispute through a two-legged playoff.
The federation announced on Thursday, September 24, 2026, that the two clubs had reached an agreement following a mediation meeting held at a Nairobi hotel, paving the way for the long-running standoff to be resolved on the pitch.
“We have an agreement for the playoff (Sharks vs Mombasa United) to proceed with newly registered players after the mediation process initiated by FKF,” FKF said in a message sent to newsrooms.
The federation confirmed that the playoff will be played over two legs, with the opening match scheduled for Mombasa on October 1, 2026, before the return fixture in Nairobi on October 6, 2026.
The agreement comes after weeks of uncertainty over the composition of the 2026/27 FKF Premier League, which was scheduled to begin on September 19, 2026, but was postponed indefinitely amid conflicting court orders.
How the dispute started
The standoff dates back to the conclusion of the 2025/26 season, when the Kariobangi Sharks finished 16th in the Premier League, while Mombasa United occupied third place in the National Super League.
The two positions became significant because of competing FKF regulations governing promotion and relegation.
Under the 2019 regulations, the team finishing 16th in the top flight was required to face the third-placed National Super League side in a promotion-relegation playoff. The winner would secure a place in the Premier League.
However, FKF introduced a different framework for the 2025/26 campaign, under which the bottom three Premier League clubs were automatically relegated while the top three NSL sides earned automatic promotion. That framework meant Sharks were relegated directly, with Mombasa United promoted without a playoff.
Sharks challenged the application of the newer regulations, taking the matter through the sports dispute and court system.
The Sports Disputes Tribunal subsequently upheld FKF’s use of the 2025 regulations, but the dispute continued in the High Court, eventually producing conflicting directives over how the new Premier League season should begin.
Conflicting court orders delayed league
The legal battle intensified shortly before the scheduled September 19 start of the Premier League.
The High Court in Murang’a issued an order requiring FKF to first organise a promotion-relegation playoff between Sharks and Mombasa United.
A separate order from the High Court in Kiambu directed FKF to provisionally include Mombasa United as the 18th team in the Premier League.
The conflicting directives left the federation facing a difficult choice over which route to follow and eventually forced it to postpone the start of the league.
FKF had argued that proceeding with fixtures while the orders remained in force could expose the federation, clubs and other stakeholders to further legal and commercial complications.
The federation’s president, Hussein Mohammed, subsequently said FKF was engaging the affected parties in an attempt to find a negotiated solution.
“We are engaging the affected parties to see whether we can have a playoff or another all-inclusive process for all. The best ideal situation would be if we got consent from both quarters,” Mohammed said earlier this week.
Newly registered players allowed
One of the major complications surrounding the proposed playoff was the eligibility of players.
A conventional promotion-relegation playoff would ordinarily involve the squads that represented the clubs at the end of the previous season. That presented a particular challenge for Mombasa United after the club released players whose contracts had expired and recruited new players ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.
AFC Leopards chairman Boniface Ambani had earlier called for a compromise, arguing that recalling Mombasa United’s former players could prove difficult. He proposed that the two clubs be allowed to use their current squads as part of a negotiated solution.
FKF’s Thursday announcement now indicates that the two clubs have agreed to proceed with their newly registered players.
Meanwhile, the decision provides a practical framework for the playoff after the player-registration issue emerged as one of the biggest obstacles to staging the contest.
The agreement could also provide a pathway towards ending the immediate uncertainty that has affected the start of the new league campaign.
The postponement had already disrupted preparations across the FKF Premier League, with clubs forced to wait for clarity over when competitive action would resume.
