Could be delayed until next year as legal arguments take hold

begin last Wednesday, only for an adjournment of 48 hours to be granted due to a preliminary application which was lodged by Freeman’s legal team.

Now, the tribunal is getting bogged down by legal arguments, which are being heard in private. Witnesses are being delayed and rescheduled.

A spokesperson for the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service Accused: Richard Freeman has been charged with intending to dope an athlete

warned yesterday that the hearing is unlikely to open until next week.

The Telegraph understands there would be no chance of the hearing then ending before the scheduled completion date of March 5.

That would mean finding another window in which to finish it off, a difficult task as Mary O’rourke, Freeman’s high-profile QC, is understood to have other cases lined up from March. The witnesses scheduled to give evidence would also need to be available.

The situation is complicated by confusion over the statute of limitations. Ukad may have only until May – eight years after the batch of Testogel was ordered from Oldham-based supplier Fit4sport – to push for any sanctions.

It is also unclear how these delays will affect Team Sky’s efforts to find a new sponsor. Sky Plc announced in December its intention to quit the sport at the end of 2019.

Sir Dave Brailsford, the Team Sky principal, is in Colombia this week, ostensibly to oversee his team in the Tour Colombia 2.1, where Egan Bernal will defend his title and Chris Froome will start his season. The race begins in Medellin today.

Brailsford is also understood to be investigating the possibility of a Colombian backer, describing the country as full of untapped potential. As well as Bernal, Sky have Ivan Sosa and Sebastian Henao from the country on their books.