Gary Neville, the Manchester United club captain, has called for the introduction of an elite pool of referees to officiate in the biggest matches after denouncing the number of high-profile errors being made in the Barclays Premier League this season.

Neville believes that inexperienced referees should not be allowed to take charge of the big games until they have “earned” the right to do so and has urged the authorities to appoint a select group to officiate in those matches with the most at stake.

The defender’s comments are likely to provoke more controversy coming only four days after Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, was fined £20,000 and given a four-match touchline ban, with two of the games suspended until the end of next season, for his outspoken attack of Alan Wiley.

Senior refereeing officials accused the FA of being too lenient on Ferguson, who accused Wiley of not being fit enough to take charge of United’s 2-2 draw at home to Sunderland last month, and want to see stiffer punishments for managers and players who abuse officials.

But Neville believes that respect has to be earned and expressed fears that mistakes are becoming more prevalent. “Referees are having a tough time at the moment, but I must say that their decision-making doesn’t seem to be great in the big moments,” Neville said. “No one can deny it is very difficult to be a referee, but they are supposed to be professionals.

“The big matches should be refereed by the best referees. Italian referee Pierluigi Collina always used to get the big Champions League matches because he rarely made mistakes.

“They should make it like that in England and use a few elite officials in the big games instead of trying to give all referees experience.

“These big games shouldn’t be about giving refs experience. They should have to earn it. The best players play for the big clubs and the best commentators commentate on the big games. That’s how it should be with refs.”

Ferguson questioned whether Andre Marriner was experienced enough to take charge of a United-Liverpool game after the teams’ meeting at Anfield last month. United also felt a sense of injustice at Martin Atkinson’s decision to award Chelsea the free kick from which John Terry scored in the champions’ 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge eight days ago.

Ferguson suggested after that game that his players were starting to lose faith in referees, with Neville appearing to echo his manager’s claims.

“I don’t think it was a foul by Darren Fletcher which led to the free kick,” Neville said. “I don’t want to say we’ve been hard done by this season because every team has their complaints, and I don’t want to jump on referees’ backs because they are under a lot of pressure. Not only that, but the game is so fast that you can’t eliminate all mistakes. Nevertheless, I expect the big decisions in the big matches to be correct, which is not happening at the moment.”

Ferguson believes that the general fitness of referees must improve, although the refereeing fraternity will doubtless ask how members are supposed to gain the necessary experience to take charge of the big matches if Neville’s idea of an elite pool of officials was adopted.