The sense of controversy surrounding Team Sky and British Cycling has calmed somewhat in the past 10 months, following the conclusion of separate investigations by the UK Anti-Doping Agency (UKAD) and the UK Parliament’s Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS). Yet things are set to flare up again this week, as Dr. Richard Freeman faces a medical tribunal that could see him stripped of his right to practise.
On the seventh floor of the St James’s Buildings in central Manchester on Wednesday, Freeman, who worked for both organisations between 2009 and 2015, will take a seat in front of a panel of independent arbitrators from the Medical Practitioners’ Tribunal Service (MPTS) to answer to a misconduct case brought by the General Medical Council (GMC).
Over the course of the next month, he will be grilled over the testosterone gels that were delivered to British Cycling and Team Sky HQ in 2011, along with a number of other issues, including his approach to prescription medication, his private treatment of colleagues, and his record keeping.
The tribunal has the potential to inflict further harm on the reputations of both British Cycling and Team Sky, after a string of controversies that includes Bradley Wiggins’ use of Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) and the notorious ‘jiffy bag’ saga.
The main area of inquiry at the tribunal concerns the package containing 30 sachets of Testogel delivered to the Manchester Velodrome – home to British Cycling and Team Sky – on May 16, 2011. “It is alleged that his motive for placing the order was to obtain Testogel to administer to an athlete to improve their athletic performance,” reads the MPTS’ case summary, setting out the most explosive charge against Freeman.
Testosterone is banned both in and out of competition under the World Anti-Doping Agency’s rules. If it were found that the gel – which is applied to the skin - was administered to one or more athlete, the athlete(s) in question would face a lengthy doping ban, and it would deal a huge blow to the integrity of multi Olympic medal-winning British Cycling and six-time Tour de France winners Team Sky.
UKAD, whose investigation was frustrated by a lack of medical information and was closed in November 2017, told Cyclingnews it will be following the tribunal closely. It was UKAD who passed on information to the GMC and, should the medical body be able to exercise greater might in substantiating the allegations, it is poised to spring into action again.
“We will be closely following the tribunal, and if any new information were to come to light we will certainly look into that,” said a UKAD spokesperson.
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The allegations
The tribunal will look into Freeman’s previous explanations for the Testogel delivery. In March 2017, Dr Steve Peters, former head of medicine at both British Cycling and Team Sky, told the Sunday Times that he was immediately made aware of the delivery and that Freeman told him he had not placed the order and so it must have been sent in error. Peters requested Freeman return the package and obtain written confirmation of receipt from the supplier, and said this had been done, though the BBC revealed last month that email confirmation from the supplier only arrived in October, five months after the delivery.
According to the MPTS, it is alleged Freeman lied when he denied making the order, and lied separately when he told UKAD, in February 2017, that Testogel had in fact been ordered, for a non-athlete member of staff. It is also alleged that Freeman contacted Fit4Sport in October 2011, five months after the delivery, and obtained email confirmation that the Testogel had been returned and destroyed, despite knowing this had not happened.
“It is further alleged Dr Freeman’s motive for his actions, in respect of the untrue statements and communications with Fit4Sport Limited, were to conceal his motive for placing the order,” states the MPTS case summary.
The tribunal will also examine allegations that Freeman “inappropriately” provided treatment to non-athlete members of staff, that his management of prescription-only medication was “inappropriate”, and that he “failed to inform three patients’ GPs of medication prescribed and reasons for prescribing”. Dave Brailsford, the Team Sky boss and former British Cycling performance director, has admitted that Freeman injected him with triamcinolone, the corticosteroid used controversially by Wiggins under TUEs.
The tribunal process
Freeman
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/stakes-high-for-team-sky-and-british-cycling-as-freeman-prepares-to-face-medical-tribunal
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