FKF scraps promotion play-offs in major 2025/26 league overhaul

The Football Kenya Federation (FKF) has abolished the long-standing promotion and relegation play-off between the Kenya Premier League and the National Super League (NSL), ushering in a new era of direct movement across Kenya’s football pyramid.

The change, unveiled after months of public consultations and confirmed after today's National Executive Committee meeting, headlines a broad package of reforms for the 2025/26 season aimed at creating transparency and competitive balance.

Beginning this September, the men’s Premier League will retain its 18-team lineup, while the NSL continues with 20 teams. But the pathway between them shifts dramatically: the bottom three Premier League clubs will now be relegated automatically, while the top three NSL sides earn direct promotion—ending the high-stakes play-off that once decided their fate.

Reforms ripple further down the system. The bottom four NSL teams will drop straight to Division One, replaced by the four zonal winners from Division One, where each of the four zones will contain 16 teams and relegate their bottom three sides.

Women’s football mirrors the shake-up. The Women’s Premier League will remain a 12-team contest, but its bottom three finishers will be relegated directly to the Women’s National Super League. 

Zonal winners of the Women’s NSL will secure automatic promotion, while a one-off play-off between the two second-placed teams decides the final slot. The Women’s NSL will also relegate two teams per zone to Women’s Division One, whose zonal winners climb up.

To strengthen competitiveness, clubs in the Premier League, NSL, Women’s Premier League, and Women’s NSL can now register up to seven foreign players per season, with no limit on how many may play in a match.

By eliminating the promotion play-off and clarifying pathways for both men’s and women’s leagues, FKF aims to streamline progression and intensify competition as the 2025/26 season kicks off in today and runs through June 2026.