End of an era! KPL contract with FKF officially expires

The Kenyan Premier League Limited's mandate to run top-flight football in the country has officially expired.

The company has been running the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) since 2003; when it was formed to curb the constant wrangles between the Federation and the top-tier clubs.

A Football Kenya Federation (FKF)-KPL agreement was drafted in 2015, giving the latter the legal mandate to run top-flight football in the country until September 24, 2020. However, the league administrators did not manage to finish their last season as planned owing to Covid-19.

FKF president Nick Mwendwa went on to confirm they will have no business to discuss this with the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) when their term in office expires. 

"It is over between FKF and KPL, we don’t have anything to discuss nor to negotiate about, they [KPL] have finished their mandate and that is it, the league will now move under FKF," Mwendwa told Goal earlier.

Pressed to explain if they will listen to offers to extend KPL’s deal, Mwendwa said: "It is done, we are done with [KPL], they have had their time and we must now get other ways to run our league, it is done."

The battle for supremacy between the FKF and the KPL started when Mwendwa and his team took the mantle to run football in the country four years ago.

In their recent spat, the FKF moved to end the league owing to the coronavirus pandemic and declared Gor Mahia the champions while promoting National Super League (NSL) table-toppers Nairobi City Stars and Bidco United.

However, the move was quickly protested by the KPL, who insisted they are the ones mandated to run the top-flight, and thus they are supposed to declare the state of the league.

The KPL further moved to the Sports Dispute Tribunal in a joint suit with relegated side Chemelil Sugar and recently, the SDT dismissing the case. 

Mwendwa has since revealed from the 2020/21 season, the top-tier will be referred to as the FKFPL as opposed to KPL. The league will officially start after the government gives the greenlight on the resumption of football in the country.