Court battle leaves FKF relegation-playoff fate hanging in the balance
Reading Time: 3min | Mon. 01.06.26. | 16:50
The confusion stems from a dispute over which Football Kenya Federation (FKF) regulations should govern the season.
The 2025/26 FKF Premier League season has come to an end, but one important question remains unanswered: will there be a promotion and relegation playoff?
Ordinarily, the conclusion of the season would provide clarity on which teams are promoted, relegated, or given a second chance through a playoff. This year, however, an ongoing court case has left the matter unresolved, creating uncertainty for clubs in both the FKF Premier League and the National Super League.
The confusion stems from a dispute over which Football Kenya Federation (FKF) regulations should govern the season.
At the beginning of the campaign, clubs were informed by the FKF Leagues and Competitions Committee that the 2019 FKF Regulations would be used. Under those rules, two teams are automatically relegated from the Premier League, while two teams earn automatic promotion from the National Super League. The team finishing 16th in the top flight then faces the side that finishes third in the second tier in a promotion-relegation playoff to determine the final place in the next season's Premier League.
Had those regulations remained undisputed, there would be little debate about the existence of a playoff.
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However, concerns emerged during the season after clubs noticed that several decisions issued by FKF's Leagues and Competitions Committee were citing the federation's 2025 Regulations instead of the 2019 rules. According to a number of clubs, there was no formal communication informing them that the regulations governing the season had changed.
The distinction between the two sets of rules is significant.
While the 2019 Regulations provide for a playoff, the 2025 Regulations do not. Instead, they stipulate that three teams should be automatically relegated from the Premier League, and three teams automatically promoted from the National Super League. Under that framework, there is no playoff at all.
The issue eventually found its way to the Sports Disputes Tribunal following the abandoned league match between Nairobi United and Gor Mahia in December 2025. After crowd trouble forced the game to be abandoned in the 58th minute, FKF's Leagues and Competitions Committee awarded both teams one point each.
Nairobi United challenged that decision before the Tribunal, which delivered a ruling with far-reaching consequences beyond the abandoned match itself.
The Tribunal declared the 2025 FKF Regulations invalid, arguing that they had not been properly enacted under the FKF Constitution, because they had not received approval from the FKF General Assembly. It also questioned the legality of the current FKF Disciplinary Committee, and ordered the Nairobi United-Gor Mahia matter to be reheard under the 2019 Regulations.
FKF subsequently moved to the High Court seeking a judicial review of the Tribunal's decision. A judicial review is a legal process through which a court examines whether a decision was made lawfully, fairly and within the powers granted to the decision-making body.
The federation was granted a stay order by the High Court, effectively suspending the implementation of the Tribunal's ruling, until the case is heard and determined.
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That stay is the reason the playoff question remains unresolved, even after the final whistle of the season.
If FKF succeeds in the High Court, the 2025 Regulations could remain in force, resulting in three automatic promotions and three automatic relegations with no playoff. If the federation loses, the Tribunal's position that the 2019 Regulations govern the season could prevail, opening the door for a playoff between the Premier League's 16th-placed team and the National Super League's third-placed side.
Until the High Court delivers its final verdict, Kenyan football remains in a state of uncertainty, with the fate of one place in next season's FKF Premier League potentially resting not on results on the pitch, but on a decision in the courtroom.
