THE Rugby Football League will have a new interim chief executive this week when Abi Ekoku steps into the role at the Etihad Campus in Manchester.

The RFL is expected to make an official announcement about the appointment this week, but League Express understands that Ekoku, who is a member of the RFL Strategic Advisory Group that is expected to report in December and is also an interim RFL director, will step into the role vacated by Tony Sutton at the start of next month.

Ekoku and interim RFL director Nigel Wood are expected to meet their NRL counterparts Peter V’landys and Andrew Abdo, along with some Super League club representatives, in London this week.

Ekoku, a former British athletics champion in throwing the discus, was a Super League player with Halifax and Bradford between 1996 and 1998, having played for the then London Crusaders for three years before that, and he was the Bulls’ chief executive between 2000 and 2003, overseeing the club in a period when it won the Super League, Challenge Cup and World Club Championship.

He was appointed the team manager for Great Britain in 2006, although he stepped down from that role in 2007.

His interim role is likely to run until March next year, which is the date when all the current interim appointees on the RFL board will also expire.

The RFL is also searching for a new Director of Corporate Communications to fulfil a key role in its executive team.

The executive search is being undertaken by the recruitment arm of McBride Sport with a salary being offered of between £70,000 and £90,000 per year.