Sports Minister Glenn Blakeney has admitted over-ruling the nominating committee's choice for Male Athlete of the Year Award, and instead handing it to James Stout.

The under-fire Sports Minister went on the offensive yesterday, defending his decision to deny Olympic swimmer Roy Allen Burch the prestigous honour, saying that Stout was more deserving.

In a radio appearance on FM89 yesterday afternoon Blakeney also insisted that he made the decision alone.

"Anyone who knows me, knows I am a leader not a follower," he said.

And in a brief glimpse of what the future will hold for the awards, Blakeney said that next year, he, and he alone, would decide who the winner would be.

"Next year I can tell you catergorically there will be a fundamental change," said Blakeney.

"There will be the same process as exists for the Athlete of the Year, save and except for, one thing. The committee will recommend the three people, and that's it.

"The Minister will pick from those three people upon reading their dossiers, or resumes, as to why they are one of three people selected to be recommended for the Minister to chose one.

"I will make that choice and the only time that choice will be revealed will be on the stage like the Grammies when the envelope is opened.

"Because right now, the producers of the event get the information in advance of the event and so does everybody in my Ministry because of processes and protocols.

"So to fix that, and so that it is in camera until such time as it is to be revealed on the stage, I think that is going to be the strategic approach I will take going forward."

That will come as scant consolation to this year's nominating committee, who are believed to have had no inclination that their choice was going to be overturned.

The Royal Gazette understands that as far as the committee were concerned the choice of Burch was a done deal, and it wasn't until Gary Moreno's report on ZBM on Thursday night that they thought otherwise.

In fact, it wasn't until some members of the nominating committee saw the story in Saturday's Gazette that they became fully aware that they had been over-ruled.

Blakeney's decision has left members feeling, 'stunned, appalled, and upset', with many questioning what right he thought he had to make the change.

The Sports Minister, however, has defended his decision, claiming that even the committee were unsure who they should pick, and in the end had to have a secret ballot to select a winner.

"There was some very contentious debate," said Blakeney. "In fact, there was even talk about not naming, in the committee, a Male Athlete of the Year.

"Finally they came to a concensus, and my understanding is that a lot of people were a bit surprised at the secret ballot.

"But maybe people went safely to what they thought would be more acceptable because there were two more popular sports."

The Minister's version of events differs, however, from that of one senior Government official who said that the only time there was any talk of not giving the award to anyone, was after the decision had been made not to give it to Burch.

Blakeney has insisted that the monica 'World Champion' next to Stout's name was enough to convince him that the racquets player was a deserving champion.

However unlike other nominees, Olympians Burch and long-jumper Tyrone Smith, who competed against opponents from across the globe, Stout had to beat an amateur racquets player, Harry Foster, over a two-legged challenge match to earn his title.

"When I looked at World Champion (next to Stout's name), I saw World Champion, and that's what I used as my criteria," said Blakeney.

"That to me was the most outstanding achievement for 2008."