Cycling: Hoy laughs off twits with own Foy ploy

Capital cycling star Sir Chris Hoy has become the unlikely target for hate messages on Twitter after being mistaken for the football referee Chris Foy.

The English football official took charge of the Barclays Premiership encounter which saw Stoke City beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium. Aggrieved Spurs fans were less than impressed by Foy’s performance and resorted to tweeting their thoughts on the subject.

Hoy is currently in the midst of a block of winter training in Australia. From his base in Perth, the four times Olympic champion responded in good humour, tweeting: “Just for the record 1) I don’t need glasses and 2) I do not lead a double life as an English premiere [sic] league ref. That’s Chris Foy.”

And as the abuse continued, he sent a second message, saying: “Still getting some rather amusing grief from Spurs fans! On the plus side I’ve learned some new 4 letter words today.”