Former British Cycling chief doctor Richard Freeman banned for four years
The former chief doctor of Team Sky and British Cycling Richard Freeman has been handed a four-year doping ban for possession of a banned substance and twice lying to UK Anti-Doping investigators.
Freeman was struck off the medical register in 2021 after being found guilty of ordering 30 sachets of a banned testosterone to the National Cycling Centre, “knowing or believing” it was for an unnamed rider to improve their performance.
This latest punishment amounts to the first official doping sanction for a member of staff during the golden era of British Cycling, when they dominated in the velodrome and on the roads. Freeman, who was the physician for the team at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, also worked closely with Sir Bradley Wiggins and other top riders while at Team Sky.
Freeman had claimed that he had bought the Testogel sachets to treat the erectile dysfunction of the former British Cycling technical director Shane Sutton. That defence was dismissed by a medical practitioners tribunal in 2021, with the MPT questioning why Freeman had not informed his colleagues Phil Burt or Dr Steve Peters about the package when it was delivered to the Manchester velodrome where both teams were based in 2011.
On Tuesday Freeman’s claims were also rejected by a national anti-doping panel, chaired by Charles Flint KC alongside David Casement KC and Prof Dorian Haskard. In their written decision the panel stated: “The first occasion on which Dr Freeman raised the suggestion that a ‘non- rider’ staff member had any involvement in the order for testosterone was in his interview with Ukad on February 17, 2017.
“If Dr Freeman had actually believed that the Testogel was supplied for Mr Sutton in May 2011 then, as determined by the MPT, it was inexplicable that Dr Freeman did not inform Mr Burt or Dr Peters that the Testogel was for a patient and subject to patient confidentiality.”
The chair of British Cycling, Frank Slevin, admitted that Freeman’s conduct during his employment by the national governing body “bore no resemblance to the high ethical and professional standards which we, our members and our partners rightly expect”.
Slevin also expressed his frustration that it was still unclear who Freeman bought the package for or whether the banned substance was ever used on a rider. “We acknowledge that many will be understandably frustrated, as we are ourselves, that some matters arising from this case and others remain uncertain,” he said. “We once again want to take this opportunity to urge individuals with relevant information to share that with UK Anti-Doping.”