Court orders plunge KPL new season kickoff into doubt

The start of the 2026/27 Kenyan Premier League season has been thrown into fresh uncertainty after two High Court orders issued on Friday gave Football Kenya Federation (FKF) more legal hurdles to navigate.

The High Court sitting in Murang’a halted the kick off of the new campaign which was scheduled for Saturday, with Justice Dorah Chepkwony directing that the league should not begin before a playoff between Kariobangi Sharks and Mombasa United.

The two sides are at the centre of the delayed league kickoff due to a dispute over which rulebook between the 2019 one and the 2025 version to apply in promotion and relegation of teams.

FKF had confirmed the new start date after the High Court ruling of August 28 cleared the way for the federation to proceed with the season pending the case.

The new season was originally scheduled to kick off on August 22 before the date was pushed back amid the dispute over the regulations governing promotion and relegation. A subsequent attempt to start the campaign at the end of August was also abandoned, leaving clubs waiting for a confirmed date as the legal battle continued.

Meanwhile, Kiambu High Court ordered FKF to include Mombasa United in the Premier League as the 18th team.

Justice Francis Nyungu Kyambia directed FKF to publish provisional revised fixtures featuring Mombasa United and allow the coastal club to participate in the 2026/27 campaign, subject to other federation requirements.

“That pending the interparties hearing, the respondent (FKF) is hereby ordered to publish provisional revised fixtures to include Mombasa United as the eighteenth club and permit Mombasa United to participate in 2026/27 Sportpesa Premier League subject to other requirements of the respondent.”

The Kiambu case is scheduled for an inter-parties hearing on September 29.

The two developments have complicated FKF’s plans for a season that was scheduled to begin this Saturday, with the federation having prepared for a 17-team competition.

Mombasa United finished third in the National Super League last season, while Kariobangi Sharks’ position in the top flight has also become part of the legal contest.

Under the 2025 rules, the bottom three teams in the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) are relegated to the National Super League (NSL), while the top three NSL teams earn automatic promotion to the top flight.

The Murang’a directive, if implemented as reported, would require the two clubs to settle their promotion and relegation dispute on the pitch before the Premier League can get underway.

The Kiambu order, on the other hand, requires FKF to accommodate Mombasa United in its provisional league plans.

FKF now faces a delicate situation with the scheduled opening of the season just hours away.