Christie won Olympic 100m gold at the Barcelona Games in 1992

Christie was unveiled as one of four "mentors" by UK Athletics in August.

But the move caused concern, with Paula Radciffe claiming the former Olympic champion, who failed a drugs test in 1999, was unsuitable for the role.

Now UKA boss Collins appears to have backtracked, telling BBC Five Live: "Linford as a mentor to young athletes? No, that's not what he's doing."

Interview: UK athletics chief Dave Collins

Interview: Katharine Merry

UK Athletics (UKA) announced last month that Christie would be taking on a high-profile position with the organisation.

They issued a statement headlined: "Daley Thompson, Linford Christie, Steve Backley and Katharine Merry to mentor athletes on path to glory."

But Collins now insists the 46-year-old Christie, who won gold at the Barcelona Games in 1992, was never meant to have such a position.

Linford is there in a technical coaching role, extending the very good work he has been doing before the Sydney Olympics Dave Collins

"Linford is there in a technical coaching role, extending the very good work he has been doing before the Sydney Olympics," Collins told the BBC on Thursday.

"He will be based at one of our high-performance athletic centres. He will be working with a fellow coach and a group of athletes."

Yet Collins did nothing to dispel the confusion by adding later in the interview that Christie would be providing both "coaching and mentorship".

Christie's appointment has caused such controversy because he failed two drugs tests during his career.

He tested positive for a banned stimulant at the 1988 Olympics but was cleared by a panel after claiming to have ingested it in a cup of ginseng tea.

Then he was banned for two years by the IAAF in 1999 after testing positive for banned steroid nandrolone.

He is the kind of person that athletes can relate to, and that's important Derek Redmond on Linford Christie's appointment

When asked if she thought Christie's appointment was a good idea, world marathon champion Radcliffe said: "Personally I don't think it is, no.

"We have to make sure that the people in that mentor role have an integrity and strong sense of ethics and morals."

But not everyone agrees with Radcliffe's view.

"He (Christie) is the kind of person that athletes can relate to, and that's important," former British 400m champion Derek Redmond told Five Live.

"It's all well and good Paula saying he is not the right kind of person.

"Well, actually he is, because he is the kind of person who can relate to the athletes and he is the kind of person to get through to them.

"He is not a 'suit', so he is doesn't lose that street cred, if you like. He'll have that in abundance.