The 2017 DRL season is due to begin with an international championship race at iconic London venue Alexandra Palace on June 13, it has been revealed. 

The decision to take the sport to the UK, however, comes at a time when the FAI and EAS have expressed concerns about the safety of aircraft being used in the DRL.

In a joint statement responding to European Aviation Safety Agency prototype rules for unmanned aircraft, the two bodies said: "These aircraft have functionality and performance capability not found in conventional model aircraft."

It continued: "The result of this is that they can be successfully operated by virtually anyone, without the need for training or instruction and in locations which would be inappropriate for most model aircraft.

"As such, many pilots operating these aircraft are outside of the model flying community and, therefore, do not benefit from the advice, guidance and insurance they would otherwise receive.

"This has resulted in a number of reported incidents involving 'drones' being operated unlawfully in unsuitable environments and reports of conflict with manned aviation."

DRL is the premier drone racing league and sees First Person View (FPV) drone racing pilots fly high-speed drones at iconic locations around the world.

Pilots wear goggles that display a real-time video feed from an on-board camera.

A DRL drone race is scored based on a combination of completion time and checkpoints.

Each DRL drone is custom designed and built by DRL engineers to exacting standards of speed, performance, and endurance, and optimised for drone racing, it is claimed.

Speaking about the selection of the venue for the 2017 season opener, DRL chief executive Nicholas Horbaczewski told WIRED: "We just fell in love with Alexandra Palace. 

"It's got incredibly rich history, a strong association with the city of London, it's held a huge array of events but nothing quite like this.

"It's got an incredible set of different spaces that the drones can race through.

"We wanted to put on the first professional drone race in the UK as soon as we could.

"There's a huge population of people here that fly and a lot of people that watch our sport are in the UK."

Sky Sports is currently in the process of televising a 10-part series of shows on drone racing.

The UK broadcaster has invested $1 million (£812,000/€901,000) in the DRL, and has agreed to a distribution deal that sees drone racing come to the newly-launched Sky Sports Mix channel.