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The New Zealand Olympic Committee expects "flak" over its decision to allow the women's soccer team to compete at the Beijing Games for developmental reasons.
Even though they didn't meet NZOC selection standards, the women's team were given the all clear on review by the NZOC board, which deemed Beijing would provide a "stepping stone" to the 2012 Games in London.
The men's team were deemed to be strong enough to advance past the first round of competition at Beijing so got the nod. The women, who just needed a one-off defeat of Papua New Guinea this month to be nominated, did not meet that criteria.
NZOC secretary general Barry Maister said the decision was a brave one and agreed it may set a precedent for the basis of future selections. "Whenever you show some leadership, whenever you make exceptions, whenever you go out on a limb, there is always a risk that others will say 'why not us'," he said.
