Mike Winch, the former vice-president of UK Athletics members council , claimed in an interview with Athletics Weekly published today that Collins does not understand the sport.

 

Collins is a former sports psychologist with little previous experience in athletics.

 

Winch told Athletics Weekly: "I honestly don't believe that he hass a grasp of the sport at any level and, despite spending millions of pounds on a few athletes, has not produced much to show for it.

 

"I have to say that with the resources that he has been given, it must be a great disappointment to the sport and its fundrs that so little has been been achieved with so much money.

 

"I am also in deep and and total disagreement with him over the way he has handled some athlete-coach relationships.

 

"As a psychologist, one might have expected him to have some comprehension of the issues."

 

In a seperate interview, Winch accused UK Athletics of incompetence and hypocrisy in their handling of the Dwain Chambers affair.

 

Hel told BBC Sport: "They should never have made any statement about his selection until they had actually examined what the situation was."

 

UK Athletics have been forced to include Chambers, who has served a two-year drugs ban, in the Britain squad for the World Indoor Championships in Valencia next weekend after he emphatically won the 60 metres at the trials.

 

Winch said: "There are other people in the team at the minute, (Carl) Myerscough being an example, that have done things very similar if not identical.

 

"The hypocrisy of that is ludicrous."

 

UK Athletics have declined to comment on Winch's remarks.