Former Team Sky and British Cycling doctor Richard Freeman declines to defend anti-doping charges

Richard Freeman, the former Team Sky and British Cycling doctor, has declined to attend an anti-doping hearing to defend allegations of two breaches of anti-doping rules, according the The Times. It means the doctor is now open to a four-year doping ban.

Freeman lost his appeal to the High Court over the revocation of his medical licence back in January 2023, which left him open to anti-doping charges. 

The doctor had already been struck off the UK medical register in 2021 following a four-year process surrounding the delivery of testosterone patches to Team Sky and British Cycling headquarters in 2011. As such, he is no longer able to work as a doctor in the UK.

Following the lost appeal, Freeman was set to attend a National Anti-Doping Panel hearing last month. However, The Times reports that Freeman “informed UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) that he would not be representing himself”.

Freeman was initially charged by UKAD in February 2021 for two anti-doping rules violations: 'possession of a prohibited substance' and 'tampering or attempting tampering with any part of doping control', relating to the testosterone deliveries in 2011.

Freeman admitted ordering 30 sachets of Testogel to the British Cycling team headquarters at the Manchester Velodrome and misleading UKAD in order to conceal his actions. In Freeman’s witness statement, he admitted that he “lied about the events to Ukad, to my solicitor and legal team.” However, Freeman reportedly continues to deny that the testosterone was intended to be given to an unnamed athlete to improve their athletic performance.

Freeman initially claimed the testosterone was delivered in error, and later changed his explanation, claiming instead that it was intended to treat erectile dysfunction in Shane Sutton, which the former coach strongly denied. 

Despite Freeman’s absence, UKAD will still need to prove its case to the National Anti-Doping Panel. If successful, though, the ban could inflict considerable reputational damage on both British Cycling and Team Sky.

The Times reports that the tribunal also heard of a change in culture at British Cycling following poor performances in 2010, and that Freeman had said there was a call from riders to recruit cycling doctors amid debates around controversial practices such as IV recovery.

A doping sanction from UKAD would be the latest chapter a process that began in 2019 with the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing into Freeman ordering testosterone patches.

If banned, it would mark the first time that the actions of any staff member working during the tenure of David Brailsford at Team Sky and British Cycling have resulted in a doping ban.