Ex-british Cycling doctor Freeman found guilty of testosterone charge
Former British Cycling and Team Sky doctor Richard Freeman did order testosterone knowing or believing it was to be given to a rider for the purposes of doping, a tribunal has found.
Dr Freeman admitted 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.
The case was brought by the General Medical Council and Dr Freeman's former employers but there is no doubt this is another major blow to the reputation of Britain's flagship Olympic sport.
In making its decision, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal said Dr Freeman's evidence was "implausible", "dishonest" and "incapable of innocent explanation".
The long-running hearing began more than two years ago but was delayed repeatedly by Dr Freeman's ill health, coronavirus-related restrictions and difficulties in scheduling.
Dr Freeman claimed he had been bullied into ordering the testosterone to treat former performance director Shane Sutton's erectile disfunction, which the Australian strenuously denied on an explosive day of testimony in 2019.
Sutton stormed out before completing his evidence, calling Dr Freeman a liar and a "spineless individual", but the tribunal found him to be a credible and consistent witness.
The decision read: "To be clear, Mr Sutton's behaviour during the hearing was intemperate. Nevertheless, the Tribunal had no basis to determine his evidence untruthful.
"The Tribunal determined that Dr Freeman's evidence was implausible. It did not believe he ordered the Testogel for Mr Sutton."
The Tribunal cited a lack of any paperwork to back up Dr Freeman's claim that the Testogel was for Sutton and no evidence that he had any need for it.
The panel also found no evidence to support Dr Freeman's assertion that he was being bullied by Sutton at that time, although it accepted their relationship deteriorated later.
The tribunal will sit again next week to determine what sanctions Dr Freeman will face and whether he will be deemed unfit to continue to practise medicine. Dr Freeman is also facing two UKAD charges regarding the ordering of the testosterone.
Former British Cycling and UCI president Brian Cookson, who was at the head of the national governing body from 1996 to 2013, said he was "tremendously disappointed and saddened" by the verdict, adding that Freeman's actions did not reflect the work of the organisation as a whole.
However Damian Collins MP, former chair of the Parliamentary committee which held hearings into possible violations of anti-doping regulations, said the verdict represented a failure of both British Cycling and Team Sky as a whole.
"This case is not just about the failure of one man to adhere to the rules and the standards expected of him, but a failure at that time of the management of the teams he worked for, including the national governing body of the sport," he said.