Search for Sir Chris Hoy's name on Twitter and you will usually get little more than cycling news and the odd admiring reference to the Olympic champion's muscular thighs. But on Sunday evening Hoy became the victim of a cascade of abuse.

"Chris hoy is a joke," tweeted @MiniMarvel2. "Unbelievable. Chris Hoy is so shit!" wrote @Danno__1. "Chris Hoy should just quit! What an embarrassment!" opined @R0BCR0UCH.

What was Hoy's crime? A terrible performance on the track perhaps? Had he taken to the velodrome on a bike fitted with stabilisers? Attempted the keirin on a tricycle? In fact, the four-time Olympic gold medal winner was the victim of a case of mistaken identity.

For Chris Hoy, read Chris Foy.

The Premier League referee had played a controversial role in Tottenham Hotspur's defeat at Stoke City on Sunday. Though he awarded Spurs a penalty in the second half, he turned down several more plausible penalty claims, wrongly ruled a Emmanuel Adebayor goal offside and in the final minutes sent off Tottenham's Younes Kaboul. He was therefore the object of much anger from Spurs fans. Or rather Hoy was.

"Referee was absolutely disgusting. Chris Hoy you absolute scumbag," wrote @JoshuaHodges94. "Chris Hoy is easily the worst referee in the Premier league," tweeted @dukemedia_uk. "Chris hoy! Well done you got bullied by the fans and stoke players. Your weak and pathetic," was @happyhowell1's view.

To be fair, Spurs fans were not the only ones guilty of mixing up their Foys and their Hoys. "Would like to thank Chris Hoy for helping us rob Tottenham. Merry Christmas to you too! Goooarn Stoke," tweeted Stoke fan ScottRichardss.

For his part Hoy seemed to take the abuse with good-natured amusement. "Just for the record 1) I don't need glasses and 2) I do not lead a double life as an English premier league ref. That's Chris Foy," Hoy, who seemed to have enjoyed the confusion so much he went in search of examples, tweeted in the early hours of Monday morning.

When the criticism continued unabated he added on Monday afternoon: "Still getting some rather amusing grief from Spurs fans! On the plus side I've learned some new 4 letter words today. #FoyNotHoy."

The #FoyNotHoy hashtag was soon trending in the UK as fans of other clubs got wind of the mix-up.

Hoy will have to pray the referee avoids controversy for the remainder of the season, while it has to be hoped that Foy will be on the social networking site in time to receive congratulations on his medal-winning success at the London Games.