Dr Richard Freeman set to appear before tribunal tomorrow

Dr Richard Freeman, former doctor to British Cycling and Team Sky, is due to give evidence to the Medical Practitioners’ Tribunal Service in Manchester tomorrow – almost a year after the hearing was suspended on the grounds of his ill-health.

The General Medical Council has accused Freeman of ordering 30 Testogel testosterone patches to be delivered to the National Cycling Centre in Manchester while “knowing or believing” that they were intended to be used by an athlete.

Last November, during a session in which former British Cycling and Team Sky coach Shane Sutton gave evidence, Freeman’s barrister, Mary O’Rourke QC, said that according to her client, the testosterone had been ordered to treat the Australian’s alleged erectile dysfunction.

She said that Freeman, who denies four of the 22 charges laid against him by the GMC, claimed that Sutton had bullied him into ordering the sachets, describing the coach as a “bully” and a “serial liar” and that he had a history of doping.

Sutton, who denied he had ever suffered from erectile dysfunction, subsequently stormed out of the hearing, which had originally been due to start in February last year before being postponed to the autumn and, following its adjournment in November, has been further delayed by the COVID-19 crisis.

Last month, the MPTS ordered Freeman, who had earlier declined to give evidence on mental health grounds, to undergo an independent medical assessment prior to tomorrow’s resumption of the hearing, which is scheduled to last until 26 November.