New Zealand's greatest soccer player, Wynton Rufer, was one of more than 1200 people to sign an open letter to Parliament urging MPs not to vote for Sue Bradford's bill.
The father of two and owner of the Wynrs children's soccer school said: "I've got two sons. I've
given them a smack when they were younger and it did the trick."
He wanted people to be able to make their own choice about how they discipline their children.
"Some kids do need a smack - there are boundaries though. It's not an easy one."
The 44-year-old - Fifa's Oceania footballer of the 20th century - said: "There are several things the Government is bringing in that I don't agree with and this is just another one. I think this Government has been making a few too many errors."
The letter, organised by the lobby Family First and which has former All Blacks Eroni Clarke and Michael Jones and former Work and Income NZ head Christine Rankin among its signatories, said that simply banning smacking would not stop child abuse.
Family First spokesman Bob McCoskrie said: "I think parents need to be given credit that they know what child abuse is, they know when they've crossed the line.
"We need to be helping them and supporting them without penalising all the good parents who are doing it right."
