MANCHESTER, England — British medical authorities on Friday banned the former doctor of the British Olympic program and the Tour de France-winning Team Sky after he was found to have covered up the order of a drug intended to boost a rider’s performance.
Dr. Richard Freeman was struck off the medical register by Britain’s Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service after being found unfit to practice over his order in 2011 of 30 sachets of testosterone gel to the Manchester Velodrome.
“In all the circumstances, the tribunal determined that Dr Freeman’s actions would be considered as deplorable by members of the public and fellow practitioners,” the tribunal said. “The tribunal considered that Dr Freeman’s conduct surrounding the order of the Testogel amounted to a long and considered pattern of very serious dishonesty.”
Freeman has been suspended from working in sports after being charged by the UK Anti-Doping Agency with “possession of prohibited substances and/or prohibited methods and tampering or attempted tampering with any part of doping control.”
Freeman was suspended by British Cycling in 2017 before resigning after eight years with the organization, saying he was too ill to face disciplinary action for poor medical record-keeping.
By that time he had been part of great cycling successes at the Olympics where Britain won 12 medals in both the 2012 and 2016 Games, including eight golds in London and six in Rio de Janeiro.
While at British Cycling, Freeman also held a simultaneous role until 2015 at Team Sky, which produced Britain’s first Tour de France champion in 2012 when Bradley Wiggins triumphed.
In 2019, Team Sky was renamed after Ineos following a change of ownership from the satellite broadcaster to Jim Ratcliffe, who is the chairman of the chemicals giant.
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