The medical tribunal hearing British Cycling and Team Sky's former doctor, Richard Freeman, has been postponed for another day due to a protracted preliminary legal dispute.

Originally scheduled to be heard in February, the tribunal, which was postponed to late October, was scheduled to formally open Tuesday after amendments to one of the motions were discussed last week.

A decision on the process was made Tuesday morning, at which point the trial was expected to begin in earnest following statements by Freeman and the General Medical Council (GMC) outlining their respective claims last Tuesday.

However, it was confirmed on Monday that the case had been postponed for at least 24 hours. The trial is expected to officially begin Wednesday morning.

"The tribunal hearing Dr. Freeman's case needs more time before announcing a decision on the preliminary application to amend the allegations," a statement from the Physician Appeals Service said.

The ongoing debate concerns the wording of one of the 22 allegations made in the GMC's case against Freeman, namely the three allegations that Freeman is contesting. These all relate to the provision of testosterone, which is banned in and out of competition, to British Cycling and Team Sky's headquarters in June 2011.

In its initial case brief, the GMC outlined allegations that Freeman's "motivation for the order was to obtain test gels to be administered to athletes to improve their competitive performance." However, the GMC is now attempting to change the concept of "motive" to say that Freeman knew or should have known of this possibility.

Last week GMC argued that this does not represent a change in the burden of proof, but rather reflects an update to Freeman's own defense.

In his statement last week, read by his attorney, Mary O'Rourke, Freeman outlined that he admits to ordering 30 sachets of testosterone gel, and he had previously claimed that the package was sent and returned in error, that he had "lied a lot" about this issue . had been."

Freeman claims that the test gels were not for doping athletes, but for treating Shane Sutton, who worked as a coach for British Cycling and Team Sky. However, Sutton, who will appear as a key witness for the GMC and will be cross-examined by O'Rourke, denies this, and the GMC intends to present evidence from an endocrinologist showing that Sutton had no medical need for the test gel.

If the GMC can substantiate the allegations during the court process, which runs through December 20, Freeman could lose his medical license and face doping charges.

British Anti-Doping, which handed over evidence to the GMC after its investigation into the so-called "Jiffy Bag" case was derailed by a lack of medical records, has reportedly been assured that the World Anti-Doping Agency's updated 10-year statute of limitations will apply.