LONDON (Reuters) -Former British Cycling and Team Sky chief medical officer Richard Freeman has been banned from all sport for four years, effectively Dec. 21 next year, UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) said on Tuesday.
UKAD said in a statement that the independent National Anti-Doping Panel (NADP) found the 63-year-old committed rule violations of "possession of a prohibited substance" and "tampering" on two distinct occasions.
The four-year ban was effective from Dec. 22, 2020 -- the date when UKAD provisionally suspended Freeman and charged him with the commission of anti-doping rule violations.
"The decision of the independent tribunal of the National Anti-Doping Panel confirms that Richard Freeman broke the UK Anti-Doping Rules," said UKAD chief executive Jane Rumble.
"The rules are in place to make sure everyone plays their part in keeping sport clean and to ensure a level playing field."
Freeman, who was found guilty of ordering 30 sachets of banned testosterone gel for an unidentified rider in 2011, has been permanently struck off the medical register after losing an appeal last January.
UKAD opened an investigation in 2016 after receiving information of a possible anti-doping violation by individuals linked to Team Sky at the Criterium du Dauphine race in June 2011.
Investigators then discovered a delivery of 30 Testogel sachets was made to British Cycling’s Headquarters in Manchester in May 2011.
In a 2017 interview Freeman said he ordered the gel for a 'non-riding' member of British Cycling staff but claimed he had returned it to the supplier for destruction.
He also said he had written to the unnamed 'non-rider' requesting they waive patient confidentiality but the person had refused.
Proceedings against Freeman were then put on hold in June 2021 after he appealed against being struck off.
Freeman worked for British Cycling and Team Sky during a golden period of success between 2009 and 2017. Sky changed to its current name of Ineos in 2019.
British Cycling chair Frank Slevin noted the verdict and thanked the NADP for its work.
"Throughout this case we have reiterated our belief that it is in public interest that all matters are heard and thoroughly examined, and have made every effort to support both UK Anti-Doping and the General Medical Council in their respective investigations," he said.
"Richard Freeman’s conduct during his employment by British Cycling bore no resemblance to the high ethical and professional standards which we, our members and our partners rightly expect."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond and Pritha Sarkar)
