NAIROBI, Kenya, September 18, 2026 – The start of the 2026/27 Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League has been thrown into further disarray following two contradictory court rulings on Friday evening.

A ruling by the High Court in Kiambu ordered for the inclusion of Mombasa United in the fixtures for the new season whereas another one by the High Court in Murang’a reportedly bars the new season from commencing until certain issues are resolved.

In the case of the Kiambu ruling, Hon Justice Francis Kyungu Kyambia ordered that FKF’s League and Competitions Committee (LCC) should revise the fixtures for the new season to include Mombasa United, who had finished third in last season’s National Super League (NSL).

“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 ruling read.

On the other hand, reports swirling around on social media platforms indicate that the High Court in Murang’a has issued a ruling postponing the restart of the league until a relegation/promotion playoff between Mombasa United and Kariobangi Sharks.

The league was to restart on the weekend of September 19-20 (this weekend) with eight matches on the cards.

Neither the coastal side nor Sharks were included in the fixtures list owing to the raging issue concerning the promotion of the former and the relegation of the latter.

The bone of contention is the 2025/26 guidelines under which Sharks — who finished 16th in last season — were automatically relegated to the second tier, alongside Bidco United and Sofapaka.

However, the club argue that they should have been subjected to a playoff against Mombasa United, as per the 2019 rulebook.

This, even as FKF released a letter on Friday evening, which was dated September 23 last year, indicating that the 2019 guidelines would be in place for the 2025/26 season.

Interestingly, the letter indicates that the bottom three teams would be relegated to NSL, without any playoff.