JUST WHO WERE THE DRUGS FOR?
Tribunal will demand that Team Sky doctor Richard Freeman finally reveals...
RICHARD FREEMAN, the former Team Sky and British Cycling doctor who will face serious allegations at a medical hearing that begins in Manchester this week, is expected to be quizzed on whether he ordered medication for staff members without their knowledge.
Central to a case that could be an embarrassment for the gold medal laden British cycling team and, even worse, tarnish the 2012 London Olympics, Freeman will be asked about a 2011 delivery of testosterone gel to the Manchester HQ of British Cycling and Team Sky.
Detailed in the General Medical Council allegations listed last month by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) is the claim ‘his management of prescription-only medication was inappropriate’.
And The Mail on Sunday understands British Cycling and Team Sky staff, past and present, will be called as witnesses to confirm if they were aware that Freeman had ordered medication for them. If they deny knowledge, it leaves open the question of who the drugs were for. One of the charges laid against Freeman is that ‘his motive for placing the order was to obtain Testogel t o administer t o an athlete to improve athletic performance’.
Recently, United States Anti-Doping Agency chief executive Travis Tygart suggested giving athletes non-banned medication without a medical need was as concerning as the abuse of banned substances.
As the MPTS said last month: ‘The tribunal will further inquire into the allegation that, when Team Doctor for athletes at British Cycling Federation and Tour Racing / Team Sky, Dr Freeman inappropriately provided medical treatment that did not constitute first aid to non–athlete members of staff. It is further alleged that Dr Freeman failed to inform three patients’ GPs of medication prescribed and reasons for prescribing. The tribunal will further inquire into the allegation that, in his role as Team Doctor for athletes at British Cycling Federation and Tour Racing/Team Sky, Dr Freeman failed to maintain an adequate record management system. It is further alleged that his management of prescription-only medication (‘POM’) was inappropriate.’
At this stage the MPTS will not reveal the witnesses being called to the hearing in Manchester but officials from UK Anti-Doping are expected to attend as observers.
Any new evidence that emerges could trigger a fresh UKAD investigation, with the agency still able to charge Freeman with an anti-doping rule violation if the evidence justifies it. There are strict regulations around support and medical staff and the possession of banned substances, and the fact Freeman has left cycling, having quit his post at British Cycling in 2017 rather than give evidence to an international investigation conducted by the governing body, is irrelevant.
UKAD will have to act quickly, however, because the statute of lim- itations extends to just eight years and Freeman allegedly ordered the Testogel from medical suppliers in Oldham in May 2011.
The exact details of the delivery potentially remain the most explosive element of the hearing.
An email published by the BBC confirms a five-month gap between the arrival of the banned substance at the National Cycling Centre and Freeman, the doctor who was also at the centre of the Team Sky Jiffy Bag controversy, obtaining a note stating it was delivered in error.
As the MPTS stated, it is alleged that in May 2011 Freeman ‘ordered for delivery from Fit4Sport Limited... 30 sachets of Testogel’, with it further alleged that the doctor, who was serving both Team Sky and the British Cycling at the time, ‘made untrue statements, in that he denied making the order and advised that it had been made in error’. It is also alleged that he ordered Testogel ‘to administer to an athlete to improve athletic performance’, just as it is alleged that he made ‘untrue statements and communications’ with Fit4Sport ‘to conceal his motive for placing the order’.
Detailed in the allegations, and confirmed with the publication of the email by the BBC, is the fact that it was not until October 2011 that an email was sent by Fit4Sport saying the Testogel had been sent in error, was returned and destroyed.
At the hearing it will be alleged that Freeman ‘contacted an individual at Fit4Sport Limited requesting written confirmation that the order had been sent in error, returned and would be destroyed by Fit4Sport Limited, knowing that this had not taken place’. It will also be alleged that Freeman ‘showed the email to others knowing that its content was untrue’ in October 2011.
Confirming allegations first reported by Sportsmail, the email from a member of staff at Fit4Sport says it could ‘confirm that I have now received back the Testogel 50mg pack of 30 sachets which we sent in error to you’, adding: ‘This will be destroyed on our premises. Apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you, we will revise our procedure to ensure incorrect pharmaceutical products are not shipped out again.’
In March 2017 Team Sky’s then medical director and psychiatrist
Dr Steve Peters was asked by The Sunday Times to explain the circumstances surrounding the delivery of testosterone, and in the quotes published there was no mention of the five-month delay in the ‘written confirmation’ arriving.
Peters was quoted as saying: ‘I was with a colleague when the order arrived and it was immediately brought to our attention. Dr Freeman, who was responsible for ordering medical supplies, explained that the order had never been placed and so must have been sent in error. He contacted the supplier by phone the same day and they confirmed this. I asked Dr Freeman to re-pack and return it to the supplier, and to make sure they provided written confirmation that it was sent in error and had been received. That confirmation arrived and was shown to me by Dr Freeman. I was satisfied that this was simply an administrative error and it wasn’t necessary to escalate it further, and so Dave Brailsford was not made aware.’
Representatives for Peters say he has been asked not to comment by the GMC but he may also be called to give evidence at the hearing.