FIA returns entry fee paid by defunct Manor F1 team

LONDON (Reuters) - Formula One's governing body has returned the entry fee paid a year ago by the now-defunct Manor team, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) said on Monday.

The FIA said on its website (www.fia.com) that it had decided to return the entry fee, less administrative costs, "to the entity within the Manor Group in administration as a gesture of goodwill to assist in payment of outstanding debts."

In order to appear on the provisional 2017 entry list, published last December, Manor would have had to pay $521,289 to the FIA -- a basic fee of $516,128 and $5,161 for the sole point the team scored in 2016.

The team went into administration in January, before the start of the season, and ceased trading.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by John Stonestreet)