The 2026/27 Football Kenya Federation Premier League season is set to kick off on September 19, but former FKF Secretary General/CEO Lodvick Aduda has questioned whether the federation has addressed all the governance issues surrounding the return of league football.

The league was initially scheduled to begin on August 29–30 but was delayed amid a series of court battles over the promotion and relegation framework.

FKF has now confirmed September 19 as the new start date, following a ruling by Murang’a High Court that cleared the federation to run the new season under the 2019 FKF Rules and Regulations. The court clarified that FKF could not rely on the disputed 2025 regulations while the legal challenge remained active, particularly the provisions providing for automatic relegation without the promotion and relegation playoff.

FKF subsequently announced: “Football Kenya Federation wishes to confirm that the SportPesa League 2026/2027 season will commence on Saturday, 19th September 2026 in compliance with the recent court ruling issued on 28th August 2026.”

However, Aduda, speaking to LTN Sports, believes the announcement raises further questions that could expose the federation to additional legal challenges.

His first concern centres on who has the constitutional and regulatory authority to set the opening and closing dates of the season. Under Regulation 2.3.1 of the 2019 FKF Rules and Regulations, “The FKF National Executive Committee shall annually set the opening and closing dates for all FKF Leagues and/or Competitions.” The same regulation gives the NEC power to suspend or extend the season.

Aduda argues that such a decision should therefore originate from a properly constituted and minuted NEC meeting. He says there was no such meeting in which the matter was substantively considered, particularly with the direction of leagues from the top tier downwards forming part of the outstanding issues.

“Only the FKF NEC has the powers to announce the start and end of the season, and that can only happen after a properly constituted and minuted meeting,” Aduda told LTN Sports.

There is also a constitutional question surrounding FKF’s judicial bodies. Article 64 of the FKF Constitution establishes the Disciplinary Committee, Ethics Committee and Appeals Committee as the federation’s judicial bodies. It provides that their chairpersons, deputy chairpersons and members are elected by the General Assembly upon proposal of the NEC.

The Constitution therefore places the General Assembly at the centre of the formal appointment of the judicial bodies, although the NEC can appoint replacements for vacancies until the next General Assembly. A previous SDT decision also affirmed the role of the General Assembly in ratifying such appointments.

Aduda says the absence or questionable status of the required judicial bodies could create another problem once competitive matches begin.

“You cannot start the league with two judicial bodies that have not been properly constituted and ratified in accordance with the FKF Constitution,” he said, referring to the Appeals and Disciplinary Committees.

The 2019 Constitution also assigns an important role to the Leagues and Competitions Committee. Article 48 provides that the committee shall organise FKF leagues and competitions in compliance with the Constitution and applicable competition regulations and resolve matters arising from leagues and competitions.

This division of responsibilities has previously been considered by the SDT. In the Migori Youth case, the Tribunal observed that the NEC has the general mandate over the running of football, while the Leagues and Competitions Committee handles the administration of leagues and competitions.

Aduda is also warning that simply reverting to the 2019 regulations does not automatically resolve the problems surrounding last season.

He argues that if the new season proceeds under the 2019 framework, particularly its promotion and relegation provisions, there could be ramifications for the validity of the 2025/26 season and the teams affected by promotion and relegation.

The 2019 rules provide for a promotion and relegation playoff, with the third-placed promotion contender from the second tier facing the third-lowest team in the top tier.

Aduda further questioned the ownership of the announcement itself, arguing that official communication from the federation should carry clear institutional responsibility, particularly from the General Secretary, rather than simply being circulated without clear ownership.

More importantly, he believes FKF may have acted too quickly given that another court matter scheduled for September 21 could potentially have a bearing on the composition of the league.

“Considering there is a case coming up on the 21st that could potentially determine the composition of the league, the decision to announce the start date was rushed and dangerous,” Aduda said.

With September 19 now set as the proposed kick-off date, FKF faces a race against time to ensure that the league begins on a firm legal and constitutional footing rather than opening another chapter in Kenya’s increasingly prolonged football governance crisis.