UKA want Walker as new chief

BRITISH Olympian and former Wales rugby international Nigel Walker has emerged as a favourite for the chief executive vacancy at UK Athletics. UKA has been without a leader since Niels de Vos stepped down in September from his £300,000a-year position. Their search for his replacement has been held up by the need to recruit a chairman after Richard Bowker’s acrimonious departure in January. A new chairman must be in place before a new CEO can be appointed, but Sportsmail understands influential figures back Walker (right) for the top job. The 61-year-old, who reached the 110m hurdles semi-finals at the 1984 Olympics and won 17 caps for Wales, is currently the national director at the English Institute of Sport. He has admirers at UK Sport, the funding body for Britain’s Olympic teams, as does Jack Buckner, the British Swimming CEO, who won European 5000m gold in 1986. If Walker gets the post, held by interim boss Nigel Holl, he would be the only BAME chief executive of Britain’s Olympic sports. Steve Cram, who worked with Walker at the EIS, is one of the leading contenders for chairman but is facing questions over whether he could perform the £40,000-a-year role while remaining a lead pundit for the BBC, as revealed by Sportsmail.