Doctor guilty of getting testosterone for cyclist
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Richard Freeman (second from left) and his defence team after appearing at the misconduct hearing.
PHOTO: TWITTER/CYCLINGWEEKLY
LONDON • Former Team Sky and British Cycling doctor Richard Freeman ordered banned testosterone knowing or believing it was to be given to a rider for the purposes of doping, a medical tribunal found yesterday.
He was charged with ordering 30 sachets of banned substance testogel for an athlete in 2011 and admitted to destroying a laptop with "a screwdriver or blunt instrument" before giving it to forensic experts for a doping investigation.
Dr Freeman accepted 18 of 22 charges against him relating to the ordering of a package of testogel to British Cycling headquarters in 2011, but denied the central charge regarding its purpose.
After a hearing lasting over two years, decisions on the contested charges were issued by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service.
He had claimed the testosterone had been ordered to treat former performance director Shane Sutton's erectile dysfunction and was pressured into ordering the testosterone. The Australian has strenuously denied both allegations.
The verdict will raise questions over the past practices by the British team, who have been dominant at recent Olympics.
Dr Freeman, employed by British Cycling and Team Sky - now known as Ineos Grenadiers - during a golden period of success between 2009 and 2017 resigned from British Cycling in 2017 because of ill health. The tribunal will sit again next week to determine his sanctions and whether he will can continue to practise medicine.
He is also facing two UK Anti-Doping charges relating to the ordering of the testosterone. If found guilty, he could face a four-year sporting ban.
Sutton later admitted he was "saddened by the whole affair".
"I feel for the doctor - that he ever got into this situation, and I remain disappointed that I was used as a scapegoat," he said. "It also saddens me that this episode has cast a huge shadow over the success we enjoyed, both at Team Sky and British Cycling.
"I'd like to stress that neither I nor Sir Dave Brailsford (general manager of Team Sky and former performance director of British Cycling) knew about the testosterone order. But I think it's important to find out who the doctor ordered it for."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS