Hussein Mohammed was elected president of the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) on December 7, 2024.
One of his campaign pledges was to return the management of the FKF Premier League to a limited company, as was the case before. Nine months later there is no hint that this particular promise will be fulfilled.
Between 2003 and 2020, management and ownership of the country’s top flight league was under the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) with oversight from the Football Kenya League (FKL) and later, FKF.
KPL’s mandate to run the top flight league ended on September 24, 2020, following the lapse of their agreement with FKF, then under president Nick Mwendwa who declined to renew it.
“The first thing we will do is to revert to the management of the top league to an agreement where they will be semi-autonomous so that they can manage some of their affairs independently but with oversight from the federation,” Mohammed said on September 2, 2024, when he was hosted by Bernard Ndong and James Wokabi on NTV’s Monday night sports talk show – SportOn!.
However, the federation has continued to manage the top competition, which has is now called the SportPesa League following a Sh1.12 billion, 10-year naming rights agreement with the betting firm announced on July 31.
The officially renaming of the competition, and unveiling of its new logo was done on September 16, three days before the new season that kicked off on Friday.
Asked about the league being managed by a private entity as had been before Mohammed responded: “I think the conversation of managing the league through a private entity is one we are yet to get to. However, it is something we may consider down the road.”
He said maintaining the current organisational structure of the league was in the best interest of clubs, FKF and its partners.
However, there are club officials that have expressed their reservations on how the league is being managed in commercial agreements the federations has signed on behalf of clubs.
AFC Leopards chairman Boniface Ambani expressed concerns over clubs not being involved in negotiations for the agreement, its duration, and the amount of money that will be given to clubs.
FKF President Hussein Mohammed (left) and Sportpesa CEO Ronald Karauri after unveiling FKF Kenya Premier League to Sportpesa Premier on September 16, 2025, at Glee Hotel in Kiambu County.
Photo credit: Chris Omollo | Nation
“Before negotiating these contracts, there is a need for clubs to be consulted and also involved in the negotiations. This contract is 10 years long and most clubs are struggling but the contract will benefit the federation more financially,” Ambani said.
Gaming firm SportPesa will disburse Sh85 million to the federation in the first year of the agreement, with the figure increasing yearly until it reaches Sh145 million in the final year.
Interestingly, during his election campaign Mohammed stated: “The clubs will have to reconstitute themselves either into a company where they can source for sponsorships and run certain affairs on their own but with oversight from the federation.”
Kakamega Homeboyz CEO Bernard Shitiabayi said regretted clubs now being involved in the negotiations for the FKF-SportPesa deal.
“Several clubs in the league have sponsorship agreements with betting companies that give them way more money in a season than what SportPesa is offering. Kakamega Homeboyz, for instance, receives Sh20 million per season from MozzartBet.
From the FKF-SportPesa agreement, clubs are set to receive Sh2.8 million this year which, to be honest, is very low,” said Shitiabayi.
SportPesa title sponsorship
“Also, without being involved in the negotiations for the agreement, clubs could not safeguard their interests in regards to sponsorship deals they have with other entities. If the terms of the agreement between FKF and SportPesa conflict with deals we have with our sponsors, then we will not be party to it,” he added.
Shitiabayi called for the return of the management of the league to a private entity. “That is the reason why most top flight clubs voted for Hussein Mohammed,” Shitiabayi. He reckoned that the 60:40 split of the SportPesa sponsorship money in favour of the federation was not fair to clubs.
“When KPL managed the league, clubs got 75 per cent of sponsorship money and were also party to negotiations of all sponsorship deals,” he said.
Shitiabayi also raised concerns over the intermittent disbursement of funds from FKF’s seven-year deal with Azam TV which is worth Sh1.3 billion.
“We are still not sure about how much we are supposed to get. There is a quarter we received Sh300 000 and since Hussein Mohammed took over, there has been only one disbursement of Sh1 million which was made in January this year,” he said.
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Hussein Mohamed addresses the national Girls Under 17 players at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani in Nairobi on April 22, 2025.
Photo credit: Chris Omollo | Nation Media Group
The Kenyan Premier League Ltd annual report for the 2016 and 2017 seasons indicated the company received Sh80 million and Sh86.4 million respectively from SportPesa for the league’s naming rights. KPL was meant to receive Sh90 million from the gambling firm in 2018, when the agreement was meant to end.
However, SportPesa terminated the agreement in July 2017 after the Government introduced new regulations that severely affected their operations.
The SportPesa title sponsorship then was superior to the earlier one KPL signed with the East African Breweries through their Tusker brand from 2014 to 2016 that translated to Sh56m in 2014, Sh57.5m in 2015, and Sh54m in 2016.
Contrary to Shitiabayi’s remarks, while policy dictated that KPL retained 25 per cent of revenue, the remaining 75 per cent was not all channelled to clubs.
According to the KPL annual report for 2016, a year the league body’s revenue hit Sh267 460 149, part of their 75 per cent revenue was used to fund three editions of the KPL Under-20 Championship, the KPL Top 8 tournament in addition to paying referees, and funding the KPL Awards amongst other expensed.
That report shows the 16 clubs shared Sh135 million in grants, amounting to 50.47 per cent of the league’s total revenue for the year. That meant that each of the 16 clubs received Sh8,437,520 that year.
FKF should get at least Sh259 million in revenue from their naming and broadcast deals with SportPesa and Azam TV.
However, Shitiabayi’s says clubs have no say and do not even know how much they are entitled to as they get funds from the federation intermittently.
“In interactions with clubs, the FKF president has been adamant about the league reverting to a private company but there has been no action in that direction up to now,” said Shitiabayi.
The 2025/2026 FKF Premier League kicked of yesterday firmly under the management of the federation and only time will tell if the competition will revert to being run under a private company.
