LAF Challenges Marathon Trust to Prove Athletics Investment | Sports

The Liberia Athletics Federation (LAF) has openly challenged the Liberia Marathon Trust (LMT) to produce documentary evidence of any direct financial investment it has made toward the development of athletics in Liberia beyond the mandatory US$1,500 licensing and sanctioning fee paid for the 2025 Liberia Marathon, insisting that the payment was strictly a regulatory requirement and not financial support for the Federation or its athlete development programmes.

The Federation also announced the formal termination of its 14-year technical partnership with the Liberia Marathon Trust, arguing that the collaboration had failed to achieve its primary objective of producing a sustainable pipeline of elite Liberian middle- and long-distance runners capable of competing at national, continental, and international levels.

The position was outlined in a comprehensive statement titled “Setting the Record Straight,” issued in response to public statements surrounding the recently held Liberia Marathon.

According to the Federation, despite more than a decade of collaboration, repeated engagements with the Marathon Trust failed to produce the structured athlete development programme that formed the foundation of the partnership when it began in 2011.

US$1,500 Was a Licensing Fee—Not an Investment

At the center of the dispute is the Federation’s rejection of claims that the US$1,500 paid before the 2025 Liberia Marathon represented financial support for athletics development.

LAF emphasized that the payment was solely the prescribed licensing and sanctioning fee required before authorization could be granted for the event under internationally recognized athletics governance procedures.

“The Federation challenges the Liberia Marathon Trust to provide documentary evidence of any direct financial contribution made to the Liberia Athletics Federation beyond the prescribed licensing and sanctioning fee for the 2025 Liberia Marathon,” the statement declared.

According to the Federation, no additional financial support was ever provided for elite athlete preparation, coaching education, talent development, or any track and field development programme.

LAF maintained that portraying the licensing fee as an investment in Liberian athletics misrepresents the nature of the payment and creates a false impression regarding the Marathon Trust’s contribution to the sport’s development.

A Partnership Built on Athlete Development

The Federation traced the origins of the collaboration to 2011 when it endorsed an initiative by Liberia Marathon Trust founder Peter Harrington to organize marathon and road races in Liberia.

Rather than viewing the marathon solely as a recreational sporting event, LAF said it embraced the initiative as a strategic opportunity to identify promising endurance athletes and establish a long-term athlete development system capable of producing internationally competitive Liberian runners.

According to the Federation, the cornerstone of the agreement required the Marathon Trust to identify the top twelve promising Liberian finishers—six men and six women—after each annual marathon and support them through a structured six-month high-performance training programme under the Federation’s technical supervision.

The programme was designed to improve athletes’ aerobic capacity, cardiovascular endurance, lactate threshold, running economy, biomechanics, race tactics, conditioning, and performance periodization while preparing them to meet qualification standards established by World Athletics and the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA).

“The Federation’s sole interest in collaborating with the Liberia Marathon Trust was to use the annual marathon as a talent identification platform and athlete development programme for competitive Liberian middle- and long-distance runners,” LAF stated.

Federation Details Technical Role in Liberia’s First Marathon

LAF also highlighted its extensive technical involvement in organizing Liberia’s inaugural marathon in 2011.

The Federation said its then Technical Director, Atty. Frederick Bobby Krah, a certified World Athletics coach and technical official, served as Race Director and supervised every technical aspect of the competition, including race planning, officiating, competition management, and operational standards.

Recognizing that organized marathon racing was still relatively new in Liberia, Krah reportedly required all registered participants to undergo at least two months of supervised endurance training at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex before race day.

According to LAF, the programme focused on building endurance, improving athletic fitness, preventing injuries, enhancing race preparedness, and introducing participants to internationally accepted coaching methods.

The Federation acknowledged that during those training sessions, the Liberia Marathon Trust supplied drinking water for participants and transportation for Federation coaches.

Transportation reimbursements and refreshments were also provided to volunteers, including coaches, technical officials, and course marshals assisting with race-day operations.

However, LAF emphasized that those logistical arrangements were operational expenses extended to all volunteers and should not be interpreted as financial support for the Federation or its athletics development programmes.

Years of Unfulfilled Commitments

Although the inaugural event was considered operationally successful, LAF said the broader objective of establishing a sustainable athlete development pathway was never realized.

Repeated discussions with the Marathon Trust over implementation of the agreed programme reportedly failed to produce measurable progress.

The Federation revealed that it initially declined to provide technical support for the 2012 marathon because of the absence of progress on athlete development.

However, interventions by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Liberia National Olympic Committee persuaded the Federation to resume the partnership while continuing discussions aimed at implementing a structured coaching, talent identification, and athlete monitoring system.

According to LAF, similar interventions by successive sports administrations allowed the relationship to continue for more than a decade despite what it described as the absence of a comprehensive talent identification system, elite coaching programme, athlete monitoring framework, competition pathway, and performance development structure.

Partnership Officially Ends

By 2025, the Federation concluded that the partnership had failed to accomplish its principal purpose.

It therefore formally notified the Liberia Marathon Trust that it was ending the collaboration after determining that no sustainable pathway had been created for the systematic development of Liberia’s middle- and long-distance athletes.

Nevertheless, at the request of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and other stakeholders, LAF agreed to provide only the technical licensing and sanctioning required for the 2025 Liberia Marathon in accordance with World Athletics governance standards.

The Federation confirmed receiving the prescribed US$1,500 licensing fee before issuing authorization for the event.

However, it stressed that it did not assign technical delegates, certified course measurers, referees, starters, judges, timekeepers, competition directors, or other technical officials responsible for ensuring compliance with World Athletics Competition Rules.

As a result, LAF said it could neither verify the technical integrity of the race nor certify the course, ratify official results, validate performances for rankings or records, or recognize athletes’ performances for qualification to sanctioned competitions.

Despite ending its relationship with the Marathon Trust, the Federation reaffirmed its willingness to collaborate with organizations genuinely committed to developing athletics in Liberia.

It reiterated its longstanding proposal that future marathon organizers support a six-month high-performance programme involving twelve elite Liberian athletes—six men and six women—along with three qualified coaches.

According to LAF, such a programme should include funding for structured coaching, athlete monitoring, sports science support, and participation in World Athletics and Confederation of African Athletics competitions, subject to qualification requirements.

The Federation maintained that this model offers the most practical pathway for transforming annual marathon competitions into a sustainable athlete development programme capable of producing internationally competitive Liberian runners.

Concluding its statement, LAF announced that it will no longer sanction, license, or certify future editions of the Liberia Marathon organized by the Liberia Marathon Trust, maintaining that the partnership ultimately failed to achieve its fundamental objective of strengthening Liberia’s distance running programme and building a lasting pipeline of elite athletes.

The statement marks the most significant public breakdown in relations between the Federation and the Marathon Trust since their collaboration began in 2011, setting the stage for what could become a broader debate over the future direction of long-distance running and athletics development in Liberia.