The Football Kenya Federation (FKF) has officially confirmed a major restructuring of domestic football leagues starting with the 2025/26 season, marking one of the most comprehensive reforms in recent years. In letters addressed to affiliated clubs and county branches, FKF outlined new formats, promotion and relegation changes, and structural realignments across both men’s and women’s competitions. The changes, which have been approved by the National Executive Committee following recommendations from the Leagues and Competitions Committee, are aimed at improving competitiveness, cutting logistical costs, and strengthening the development pipeline for clubs across the country.

For the 2025/26 season, the FKF Premier League will retain its current 18-team format, but with a significant change in how relegation is handled. The end-of-season playoff between the 16th-placed Premier League team and the third-placed National Super League team has been scrapped. Instead, the bottom three teams will be automatically relegated to the second tier. In a further move to streamline the league, FKF has confirmed that the Premier League will be reduced to 16 teams from the 2026/27 season onward, with three teams being relegated each year thereafter. In all cases, the top three teams from the second tier will be promoted automatically, removing the previously used playoff system.

The current FKF National Super League will be renamed the Kenya Super League (KSL). Promotion from the KSL to the Premier League will be straightforward, top three promoted to Top tier league , Kenya Premier League [now , Sportpesa League] At the bottom end, the last four teams will be relegated to the newly created third-tier FKF Conference League.

Replacing the old FKF Division ONE, the FKF Conference League will kick off in the 2026/27 season and will feature four regional zones—Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southern. FKF says the move is driven by the need to reduce operational costs for grassroots clubs while promoting local rivalries and expanding competitive opportunities at the lower levels. Consultations between NEC members, county branches, and participating clubs will determine the final promotion and relegation criteria for this tier before the season begins. Proposals will be forwarded to the Leagues & Competitions Committee for ratification and eventual approval by the NEC.

Women’s football will also undergo significant changes beginning with the 2025/26 campaign. The FKF Women’s Premier League will maintain its 12-team format, with the bottom three teams to be relegated at the end of the season. These relegated clubs will drop into the FKF Women’s National Super League, which will be composed of 24 teams divided into two zones. Each zonal winner will earn direct promotion to the top flight, while the third slot will be decided by a playoff between the second-placed teams from each zone.

The bottom three teams in each WNSL zone will drop to the Women’s Division One League. FKF has also confirmed that the Women’s Division One will be expanded to four zones of ten teams each. The top team in each zone will earn promotion, while the bottom three teams will face relegation to the lower tiers.

In terms of player registration, FKF has revised its foreign player policy for top-tier clubs. From the 2025/26 season, clubs in the Premier League and Kenya Super League will be allowed to register up to seven foreign players. There will be no restriction on how many of those players can be fielded in a single match, provided all are properly registered.

FKF General Secretary/CEO Harold Ndege, in communicating the changes, expressed appreciation to clubs and county branches for their cooperation and emphasized that the reforms are part of a long-term vision to enhance the quality, sustainability, and fairness of Kenyan football. He confirmed that further meetings will be held at regional levels to finalize pending matters such as the integration of lower leagues and the operational rollout of the new Conference League system.

These structural changes take effect immediately and are expected to usher in a more organized, competitive, and financially viable football landscape across the country.