The Kenyan Premier League (KPL), officially known as the FKF Premier League, is a professional league for men's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

clubs in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. Standing at the top of the

Kenyan football league system The Kenyan football league system is a series of several interconnected leagues for association football clubs in Kenya. Structure As of 2017, the top tier league in Kenya is the FKF Premier League, with the FKF National Super League below it. T ...

, the league was formed in 1963 under the Kenya Football Federation but is now controlled by the

Football Kenya Federation The Football Kenya Federation (abbreviated as Football Kenya or FKF) is the governing body of football in Kenya. The FKF organizes the Kenyan Premier League, the Kenyan Women's Premier League, FKF Division One, FKF Women Division One and Ken ...

. It is contested by 18 clubs and operates on a

promotion and relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

system with the

Kenyan National Super League The Kenyan National Super League (also referred to as Betika Super League for sponsorship reasons ) is the second tier of the Kenyan football league system, with a promotion and relegation system with the Kenyan Premier League and FKF Division ...

. Gor Mahia are the current champions having won the 2023–24 season. The league was mostly stable until the late 1990s and since then its performance had been considered below average, with many of the league's clubs having little or no finances to support themselves. However, when SuperSport became an official league partner, the league has taken on a more serious role with teams becoming professional and the majority of the clubs managing to get kit sponsorships. This saw the level of competition improve compared to past periods.

Origin

Following constant wrangles between the then football governing administration and the eventual deteriorating of the National Football League, participating clubs opted out and decided to form a company that would see the smooth running of the league in a professional and transparent manner. In 2003, the Kenyan Premier League was created and registered as a

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...

whose ownership was shared amongst all the sixteen participating clubs and was to be affiliated to the

Kenya Football Federation Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the List of countries and dependencies by population, 27th-most-populous country in ...

. The league was known as the Kenya National Football League from its creation in 1963 to 1996, the Kenyan Super League in 1973 and 1997 and, from 1998, the Kenyan Premier League.

Corporate structure

The Kenyan Premier League is operated and run as a

private limited company A private limited company is any type of business entity in Privately held company, "private" ownership used in many jurisdictions, in contrast to a Public company, publicly listed company, with some differences from country to country. Example ...

incorporated in October 2003 under the Companies Act of Kenya. It is fully owned and managed by the 18 member clubs with each club being a

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...

. It is affiliated to

, which is also a shareholder and voting member of the KPL

Board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

. Non-voting members include the Kenya Football Coaches Association and the Kenya Football Referees Association. The current

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Jack Oguda Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, inclu ...

and Frank Okoth is the current COO and LNO. Okoth is also in charge of

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

Sponsorship

The improved level of competition and eventual attention given to the league by the fans has seen major companies in Kenya lining up to partner with clubs. At the moment, the league does not have a title sponsorship but it has a broadcasting deal with SuperSport.

Umbro Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are sold in over 100 c ...

is the official referee kit supplier and is also the official ball provider. On 18 October 2012 the league signed a KSh.10 million/= (US$117,275; £73,242 stg; €90,052) deal with Puma, which made them the Official ball supplier for the league and its clubs with immediate effect. On 24 November 2020, Football Kenya Federation (FKF) unveiled

StarTimes StarTimes is a Chinese electronics and media company in Sub-Saharan Africa. StarTimes offers digital terrestrial television and satellite television services to consumers, and provides technologies to countries and broadcasters that are switchi ...

as their official broadcasting partners for the FKF Premier League, through signing a seven-year deal worth US$1.1 million (KSh.110 million/= per year). On 31 August 2023, Football Kenya Federation(FKF) unveiled

Azam TV Azam TV is an East African direct broadcast satellite service owned by Bakhresa Group and based in Dar es Salaam, Dar es salaam, Tanzania. Launched in 2013, the service provides audio, radio and television channels services to subscribers, ...

as their official broadcasting partners for the FKF premier league, after they signed a Seven-Year deal worth US$9.1 million(ksh1.3 billion). As per the agreement, Azam would pay an initial fee of Sh145 million(US$1 million) to the federation for the first season, with an increment of 10%($100,000/sh14.5 million)for the subsequent Seasons.

Title sponsor

On 21 August 2012, the Kenyan Premier League signed a KSh.170 million/= (

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

2.02 million; £1.28 million stg;

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

1.62 million) deal with

East African Breweries East African Breweries Limited, commonly referred to as EABL, is a Kenyan-based holding company that manufactures branded beer, spirits, and non-alcoholic beverages. Overview The group's headquarters are located in Nairobi, Kenya, with subsi ...

to rename the league to the Tusker Premier League, the most lucrative deal in Kenyan football history at the time. On 6 August 2015, East African betting company

SportPesa SportPesa is an online gambling company founded in 2014. It offers online gambling products such as sportsbooks, live betting and online casino. SportPesa has offices in Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the I ...

gained the naming rights to the league, signing a four-and-a-half-year deal with the KPL reportedly worth KSh.450 million/= (approx. US$4.36 million, £2.84 million stg. or €3.87 million) to rename the league to the SportPesa Premier League. As part of the sponsorship, a new trophy was revealed by SportPesa and the KPL on 30 October 2015, with Gor Mahia, the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

champions, set to be its first recipient and retain the previous trophy for good. The trophy was manufactured in Italy, weighs and is made of

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

. In 2018, SportPesa ceased operating in Kenya and ended its sponsorship of the KPL. In July 2020, the FKF has announced a title sponsorship deal for the KPL with online betting firm BetKing Kenya in a five-year deal worth a total of KES1.2bn ($11.2m/€9.8m), or an average of KES240m per year, with the league called the BetKing Premier League. The deal was terminated in 2021.

Competition

There are 18 clubs in the Kenyan Premier League. During the course of a season, traditionally from February to November but switched to August to May in 2018, each club plays the others twice (a double round-robin system): once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 34 games. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

, and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned champion. If points are equal, the goal difference and then goals scored determine the winner. If still equal, the ordering is determined by their head-to-head records. If there is a tie for the championship, for relegation, or for qualification to other competitions, a play-off match at a neutral venue decides rank. The two lowest placed teams are relegated to the

National Super League The TT Premier Football League 2 (formerly called TT Super League) is a league for semi-professional association football clubs in Trinidad and Tobago. It is the second-highest division of the Trinidad and Tobago football league system. The league ...

, with its top two teams promoted in their place. The 16th placed team squares off with the third-best team from th
National Super League for the third promotion slot
In 2018 the league switched from a Feb/Nov calendar to an August to May competition to bring it in line with other countries. The 2018/2019 season bridges the gap running from December 2018 to July 2019 after which the seasons will align with those of European nations.

2024–25 teams

The league's most popular teams are

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

A.F.C. Leopards and Gor Mahia last title-winning season in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, while A.F.C. Leopards won their 12th league title in 1998.

Location Map

Previous winners

Source
RSSSF – Kenya – List of champions
/small>

Total titles won

Top scorers in past seasons

The league record for most goals scored in one season is currently held by Maurice Ochieng, who completed the 1976 season with 26 goals for Gor Mahia. His former teammate,

Joe Kadenge Joe Kadenge (16 March 1935 – 7 July 2019) was a Kenyan football player and coach. Farayi Mungazi, writing for the BBC, has said that he is "regarded as the finest footballer ever produced by Kenya." Playing career A winger, Kadenge played fo ...

, praised him as a lethal striker in front of goal. ward was shared during that season ;Most time topscorers: *3 times **

John Baraza John Baraza (born 3 June 1974) is a Kenyan former footballer who played as a striker. He represented Kenya at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations The 2004 African Cup of Nations was held from January 24, 24 January to February 14, 14 February 200 ...

(2009, 2010, 2012) ;Most goals by a player in a single season: * 27 goals ** Elvis Rupia (2022-23)

Multiple hat-tricks

;Most hat-tricks in single season: * 10 hat-tricks ( 2022-23) ;Most hat-tricks by a player in a single season; * 3 hat-tricks ** Jesse Were (

)

References

External links

Kenyan Premier League
– official website

at

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

(archived)
Kenya – List of Champions
at the

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

FKFPL Livescores
{{Sports venues in Kenya 1