Top sports stars slam All Whites' big award

New Zealand All Whites striker Shane Smeltz celebrates with his teammates after scoring his goal against Italy. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Several former sports stars have joined criticism of the All Whites' Halberg Awards success - saying the awards have become a celebration of "minority sports" rather than excellence.

Former Commonwealth Games athletics gold medallist and Halberg Award winner Dick Tayler resigned from the judging panel yesterday, saying he was "irate" and "speechless" after the soccer team took the supreme Halberg award.

The All Whites also won the award for team of 2010 and Ricki Herbert took the coach of the year title.

Former Black Caps player Adam Parore and former All Black Billy Bush yesterday backed Tayler, saying the All Whites' performance at the Fifa World Cup - where they drew three games but failed to make it to the pool stages - did not warrant winning an award that is supposed to honour sporting excellence.

Parore said he had been disenchanted with the Halbergs for a number of years because they honoured minority sports rather than sportsmen and women who performed at a winning level.

"It's like a warm fuzzy award. It doesn't go to the best team or the best players, it's just a feelgood awards."

Bush also attacked giving the top awards to a team which did not win.

The Halberg Awards are decided by a voting panel of 18 former sportspeople and 10 media representatives. The judges must decide which team showed the most "sporting excellence" during the previous year using criteria including whether achievements were on a world stage against high-quality opposition.

Tayler, who won the award in 1974 after his victory in the 10,000m at the Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, said his resignation was a personal decision.

"Unfortunately for football people who care about the All Whites, they performed reasonably well in the World Cup, but they didn't win anything," he told Radio Sport yesterday. "So for me, it's a complete no-no."

His resignation could not be confirmed by Halberg Trust chief executive Steve Hall, who would not comment until he had talked to Tayler.

Former All Black Andy Haden suggested the All Blacks were disadvantaged because of an expectation they would win the World Cup this year - and then win the team of the year title next year. He said the All Whites did very well but "whether it was brilliant is debatable".

However, the soccer team got support from other judges who spoke to the Weekend Herald.

Multi-sport athlete Steve Gurney said the All Whites were deserving winners. "If you consider [they] have put New Zealand on the map, I agree with the result, to be honest."

Another judge, veteran sports broadcaster Brendan Telfer, told One News he voted for the All Blacks in the team of the year category - but said that if the awards were a "reward of excellence" then the All Whites were deserving winners.

Prime Minister John Key backed the soccer team. "They achieved an incredible sporting feat by not losing a game in the World Cup, and in that regard I have no issue with them taking out the main award."