The referee who officiated the match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspurs last week will be refereeing a League Two game this weekend; that between Accrington and Rochdale. It is a big drop from the Premier League.

But the England refereeing authorities, as well as the Premier League have denied that Chris Hoy has been demoted following the criticism levelled at him by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. They said that his presence in a lower division was planned beforehand.

The United boss claimed that the referee should have awarded more injury time at the end of the game, which the Red Devils lost 2-3 at Old Trafford.

It is not the first time that referees are harshly attacked by the long-serving manager when United lose. And it is not the first time that there are accusations that referees suffer the consequences of officiating a match which ends in a defeat for Manchester United.

Just to give one example, Mark Clattenburg has not been given a Manchester United appointment ever since he refereed the match in which United were humiliated by Manchester City 1-6 in the derby played in October last year.

The English football authorities have gone a long way to deny that there was any wrongdoing on the part of Chris Hoy, which led to his being given a match in League Two. They said that it is common practice for top referees to officiate matches in lower divisions and that Hoy will return to the top flight next week.

But the authorities would do well to consider what is being speculated before they decide who will officiate football matches in the week following similar incidents as that which happened last Saturday – because suspicions are of no benefit to the game in general.

In this particular case, they should not have given Hoy a game in League Two immediately after Sir Alex’s criticism. They could have postponed it by a week or two. In that way, they would have avoided speculation that he was demoted because of Sir Alex’s words in the Man Utd-Spurs aftermath, while expressing their support for the decisions taken last week.