Football Kenya Federation Premier League
Kariobangi Sharks’ relegation fight keeps the 2026/27 FKF Premier League on hold ahead of a critical 21 September hearing
By Pascal Okoth
The 2026/27 Football Kenya Federation Premier League season remains in limbo after the High Court at Milimani yesterday declined to grant Football Kenya Federation an urgent application to lift orders blocking the new campaign from commencing.
The latest setback is the most recent twist in a protracted legal dispute involving Kariobangi Sharks, FKF and the Sports Disputes Tribunal, with the controversy rooted in conflicting promotion and relegation regulations introduced by FKF in 2019 and revised in 2025.
The 2019 regulations provide for automatic relegation of the bottom two Premier League teams and automatic promotion of the top two National Super League sides, with the third-placed NSL team facing the 16th-placed Premier League side in a two-leg play-off. Under the 2025 rules, the bottom three Premier League clubs are automatically relegated and the top three NSL sides are promoted, with no play-off provision.
Kariobangi Sharks, who finished 16th last season, were relegated under the revised system. The club challenged the application of the 2025 rules before the Sports Disputes Tribunal, arguing the regulations had not been properly approved by the FKF National Executive Committee and that sufficient public participation had not taken place.
The tribunal dismissed Sharks’ challenge, ruling that the club had not exhausted FKF’s internal dispute-resolution mechanisms before escalating the matter. The ruling effectively confirmed Sharks’ relegation and cleared the way for Mombasa United, who finished third in the NSL, to take their place in the top flight.
Sharks subsequently appealed to the High Court. The case, initially heard at Murang’a, has since been transferred to Milimani, where Justice Janet Mulwa yesterday declined FKF’s urgent application to lift the orders preventing the league from starting.
The court directed both parties to maintain the status quo as it existed on 10 August 2026 — the date the tribunal delivered its decision. Since the 2026/27 season had not commenced by that date, the order effectively keeps the new campaign on hold.
FKF has also raised a jurisdictional challenge, arguing that any dispute arising from an SDT decision should be referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, rather than determined by the High Court. The federation has filed a Preliminary Objection seeking to have the case dismissed on those grounds, and has separately moved to the Court of Appeal after a High Court judge rejected an earlier jurisdictional objection.
Sharks, meanwhile, continues to pursue its main application challenging the relegation outcome.
The parties are due back in court on 21 September, when the bench will hear directions on FKF’s jurisdictional objection and Sharks’ main application. Until then, the league remains on hold — leaving clubs, players, coaches and supporters with no clear start date for the new season.
The dispute underscores the consequences that flow from inconsistent application of competition regulations. For clubs operating on tight budgets, promotion and relegation decisions carry significant sporting and financial weight, making the outcome of the Sharks case critical to the shape of the season ahead.
Kenyan football fans will have to wait for the courts to provide a clearer path forward.
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