LAF, Marathon Trust at Loggerheads Over Expired MOU, US$1,500 Fee

MONROVIA — The Liberia Marathon Trust (LMT) has pushed back against allegations of contract breach raised by the Liberia Athletics Federation (LAF), insisting that the only formal agreement between both entities expired over a decade ago.

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By: Christopher C. Walker, [email protected]

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The Trust’s response comes on the heels of the LAF challenging the organization to provide proof of direct financial investments into local athletics beyond a prescribed US$1,500 sanctioning fee.

The Federation maintains the payment was strictly regulatory rather than financial support for athlete development.

The dispute has escalated into a complete breakdown of relations, with the LAF announcing the formal termination of its 14-year technical partnership with the LMT.

The Federation cited the Trust’s failure to establish a high-performance pathway capable of training competitive Liberian middle and long-distance runners for national, continental, and World Athletics-sanctioned events.

The rift between the athletics governing body and the race organizers focuses on four primary areas of disagreement:

The LAF announced it has officially severed its 14-year technical relationship with the LMT, citing a chronic failure to build an elite long-distance running program. In response, the LMT pushed back against claims of a contractual breach, clarifying that the only formal tripartite agreement ever executed between the entities expired in 2014 and was never renewed.

The LMT also contends that its US$1,500 payment for the 2025 event fulfilled requirements for technical licensing.

The LAF, however, maintains the amount was strictly a mandatory administrative fee for sanctioning the race, flatly denying that the funds served as financial aid for local athletic development.

LAF officials, at the same time, accuse the Trust of failing to uphold its commitments to finance structured, six-month high-performance training programs for promising local athletes. The Trust refutes this, maintaining it has no active, legal obligation to fund extended training frameworks.

2025 Race Integrity:

Highlighting operational gaps, the LAF warned that it cannot certify the course or validate the official results of the 2025 Liberia Marathon.

The Federation noted that because ties had been cut, no certified technical delegates, course measurers, referees, or race starters were provided to monitor the event.

LAF Alleges Failed Mandate

In a statement titled “Setting the Record Straight,” the LAF detailed that the collaboration began in 2011 after endorsing an initiative by LMT founder Peter Harrington to organize road races in Liberia.

The Federation viewed the event as a talent identification platform to build a sustainable pipeline of elite distance runners.

According to the LAF, the core of the framework required the LMT to select 12 promising Liberian athletes, six men and six women, after each annual marathon for a six-month high-performance program under LAF technical supervision.

The program aimed to improve aerobic capacity, race tactics, biomechanics, and performance periodization to meet World Athletics and Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) standards.

“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 program for competitive Liberian middle- and long-distance runners,” the LAF stated.

Highlighting its early involvement, the LAF recalled that former Technical Director Atty. Frederick Bobby Krah, a certified World Athletics coach, served as Race Director for the inaugural 2011 event, introducing mandatory two-month training regimes at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex to promote runner safety.

Relations strained as early as 2012 over the lack of structured progress, though interventions by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Liberia National Olympic Committee repeatedly salvaged the partnership.

By 2025, the LAF formally notified the Trust of its intention to sever ties. Although the partnership ended, the LAF agreed at the request of sports authorities to issue a basic technical license for the 2025 race upon receiving the US$1,500 fee.

However, because it did not deploy certified course measurers, referees, starters, or timekeepers, the LAF stated it could not verify the technical integrity of the 2025 race, certify the course, or validate athlete performances for international rankings.

LMT Counters: “No Active MOU Since 2014”

Rejecting the LAF’s claims of a breached agreement, the Liberia Marathon Trust clarified that the only formal contract signed with the Federation was a tripartite agreement involving the Ministry of Youth and Sports on July 20, 2013.

The LMT noted that the agreement was valid for exactly one year and expired in 2014 without a replacement contract ever being executed.

The Trust disputed accounts that it remains bound by a long-standing developmental mandate, maintaining that operational support such as providing drinking water, volunteer refreshments, and coach transportation reimbursements was extended during race cycles despite the absence of an active legal framework.

Future Sanctions

Addressing public claims that the US$1,500 payment represented financial support for local track and field, the LAF challenged the LMT to publish documentary proof of any direct contributions toward coaching education or grass-roots programs.

Reaffirming its commitment to advancing Liberian athletics, the Federation reiterated its standard proposal for future marathon organizers to sponsor a structured high-performance program for 12 local runners and three certified coaches, complete with funding for international competition travel.

Concluding its statement, the LAF declared it will no longer sanction, license, or certify any future editions of the Liberia Marathon organized by the Liberia Marathon Trust.