According to the Times, Richard Freeman, former doctor for Team Sky and British Cycling, has refused to attend an anti-doping hearing to defend himself against two alleged anti-doping rule violations. This means that the doctor could face a four-year doping ban.

Freeman lost his appeal to the Superior Court of Justice to have his medical license revoked in January 2023, leaving him open to anti-doping charges.

The doctor had already been struck off the UK medical register in 2021 following a four-year process over his provision of testosterone patches to Team Sky and British Cycling headquarters in 2011. He was therefore no longer able to work as a doctor in the UK.

Freeman, who lost his appeal, was scheduled to attend a National Anti-Doping Panel hearing last month. However, the Times reported that Freeman "informed UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) that he would not be attending as a representative."

Freeman was initially charged by UKAD in February 2021 with two anti-doping rule violations: possession of a prohibited substance" and "tampering or attempting to tamper with any part of the doping controls."

Freeman admitted to ordering 30 bags of test gels from the British Cycling Team headquarters at the Manchester Velodrome and deceiving UKAD to conceal his actions. In his testimony, Freeman admitted that he "lied to Ukad, to my lawyers and to my legal team about the events." However, Freeman reportedly continues to deny that testosterone was intended to be administered to unnamed athletes to improve their athletic performance.

Freeman initially claimed that the testosterone was administered in error and later changed his explanation, claiming instead that it was intended to treat Shane Sutton's erectile dysfunction, which the former coach strongly denied.

Despite Freeman's absence, UKAD still needs to make a case to the National Anti-Doping Panel. However, if successful, a ban could cause considerable reputational damage to both British Cycling and Team Sky.

According to the Times, the court heard that the culture of British Cycling had changed following poor results in 2010, and that Freeman had been asked by riders to recruit a cycling doctor amid discussions of controversial practices such as IV recovery. He said.

The doping sanction from UKAD is the latest chapter in a process that began in 2019 with a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing on Freeman's order for testosterone patches.

If banned, this would be the first case of a doping ban for the actions of staff working for Team Sky and British Cycling during David Brailsford's tenure.