The Kenya Football Federation Premier League Limited (KFF PL) board of directors has insisted on a 20 team league.

The directors said they would stick to the 20 team structure as agreed by majority of the clubs.

"We want 20 teams to be involved, but are ready to reduce the number next season to number which Fifa wishes," they said.

The directors held a meeting yesterday, chaired by Harambee Stars Management Board (HSMB) member Joe Adongo. They will meet on Tuesday to decide which company runs the Premiership.

The next meeting will also deliberate on the league kick-off, fixtures and the secretariat of the KFF PL.

A rival entity, Kenya Premier League Company (KPL), suffered a setback when its vice-chairman, Gerald Chege of Thika United, took up his director's seat in the KFF PL.

The directors said they intended to kick off the league as soon as possible.

They said they do not want to be embroiled in the tussle between the federation and the government.

On the pitch

"We want to fight it out on the pitch by playing, and whatever is going on is not our business," they said.

They kept clear of directly commenting on the legal status of the the body to run football in the country.

In the meeting were KFF PL chairman Gabriel Otiende (Sony Sugar), Simon Mugo (Kangemi United), Ali Agil (Kenya Commercial Bank), Sam Nyamweya (Shabana), Gerald Chege (Thika United) and Solomon Makhanu (Red Berets).

The two directors who did not attend were from Tusker and Ulinzi Stars.

Meanwhile, the Kenya Football Referees Association (Kefora) has warned referees against officiating in KPL-organised matches starting this weekend.

The Kefora treasurer, Samson Kawa, said: "On behalf of the association I wish to inform all referees who might have been appointed to officiate the matches that it will be against our profession to take up the duties without consulting the association."

Kawa, a KFF referees committee member, advised the referees to seek advice from the Kefora executive or risk being disciplined.