The Football Kenya Federation (FKF) has summoned club representatives for an urgent consultative meeting as it seeks a way out of the legal deadlock that has forced the indefinite postponement of the 2026/27 SportPesa League season.
The meeting will be held today at Weston Hotel from 10 am, five days after the league was due to kick off on September 19. In an official invitation issued by Acting General Secretary and CEO Dennis Gicheru, FKF asked each club to nominate up to three representatives, including a legal representative if necessary.
“We hereby wish to invite you to a consultative meeting scheduled for Thursday, 24th September 2026 at Weston Hotel at 10:00 am,” Gicheru stated in the letter addressed to club leadership.
“Please nominate up to three (3) representatives to attend the meeting. Please take note that you are at liberty to include your legal representative to attend the meeting.”
The league postponement followed conflicting High Court orders over the promotion and relegation framework to be applied in the top flight, leaving FKF facing competing directives on how the 2026/27 campaign should be constituted.
The dispute centres on the clash between the 2019 and 2025 regulations. Under the 2019 rules, the bottom two Premier League teams are automatically relegated, while the team finishing 16th faces the third-placed National Super League (NSL) side in a promotion-relegation playoff.
The revised 2025 framework, however, provides for the automatic relegation and promotion of three teams and abolishes the playoff mechanism.
Application of the 2025 regulations resulted in the automatic relegation of Kariobangi Sharks, prompting the club to seek legal redress.
The situation became more complicated after courts in Murang’a and Kiambu issued conflicting directives. The High Court in Murang’a barred the league from starting until a promotion-relegation playoff between Kariobangi Sharks and NSL third-place finishers Mombasa United is conducted.
At the same time, the High Court in Kiambu issued conservatory orders directing FKF to provisionally publish revised fixtures that would include Mombasa United directly as the 18th top-flight team without a playoff.
Faced with the two competing orders, FKF halted the scheduled fixtures, citing the legal risks to the federation, clubs and commercial partners.
“With the league scheduled to commence on the 19th September 2026, and the various court orders issued, the Federation was left with no other option but to postpone the commencement,” Gicheru said in a statement explaining the decision.
“Proceeding with the matches could expose the federation and clubs to significant risks, most importantly on the effect of the matches being played cognizant of the direct nature of the orders issued by the court in Murang’a, including the threat of the subsequent results being nullified.”
While reaffirming FKF’s respect for the courts and the rule of law, Gicheru expressed concern over the increasing use of civil courts to settle football disputes, citing FIFA statutes that favour the resolution of sports matters outside ordinary courts.
