By Sports Reporter/Kuwait City
The first FIA Sport Regional Congress for the Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA), held in Kuwait over a period of three days, concluded its activities yesterday, with the adoption of recommendations and studies that serve the best interest of motor sport and promote future races and championships in the MENA region.
After deliberations held during the MENA meeting last Friday, the representatives of 19 ASNs discussed, in training workshops organised over the following two days, the major obstacles hindering the development of motor sport in the MENA countries, including the organizational, technical and logistical support provided by the FIA to these countries in championships and races.
They have also deliberated on the mechanism used to define the tracks of cross-country rallies of the Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) in Dubai, Qatar and Kuwait.
In fact, as these countries have open desert spaces, the organizers will have to deploy additional efforts to limit violations during the race. Therefore, it was agreed to adopt the last Qatar International Rally as a positive model to be applied to rest of the MERC rallies. The attendees discussed as well ways to prevent any attempt to bypass the laws on the tracks of cross-country rallies.
Furthermore, all the participants underscored the importance of having a Baja Cross-Country Championship organized particularly in the North Africa region and the need to activate such a championship by attracting a significant number of competitors, so as to allow it to grow to reach a size comparable to that of international championships.
They also agreed that all this could only be achieved through joint action by organizers, participants and media.
The FIA accredited training team explained the mechanism according to which ASNs could apply for FIA support and the modalities of this mechanism, with the help of FIA representatives who were ready to answer any enquiries by attendees.
In fact, in order to benefit from the support of the FIA, the ASN is required to submit a thorough study of prospective activities pertaining to the races and championships it organizes. Then, the FIA takes the appropriate decision after consideration of the aforementioned study.
