Botswana hopeful of FIA membership

Gaborone (Botswana), Sep 6 (IANS)

Flags of the FIA and China fly before the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit on April 14, 2013 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Botswana is at a very advanced stage of processing its application for full membership to world motorsports’ governing body, the Federation Internationale de I’Automobile (FIA).

Botswana Motor Sport’s (BMS) vice-president Gregg Armstrong said Thursday that they had made good strides in the sport and hoped to get their full membership soon. Last week FIA president Jean Todt visited Botswana with executive committee members and held talks with relevant stakeholders in the country’s sporting fraternity, reports Xinhua.

Armstrong said the FIA chief was impressed with what the BMS has done and was willing to assist the country come up the ranks in motorsports.

Botswana has already received a grant to train its officials to enable the country to organise and fully run its own events. Botswana has already played host to some big and popular motorsport events in the region.

Armstrong said once Botswana has its trained officials, they will not have any problems organising events.

FIA is the governing body for many auto-racing events such as Formula 1 and World Rally Championships (WRC).