Last Monday (14), through social and official networks, it was announced that Richard Freeman is banned from professional sport for four years for lying twice to anti-doping investigators in the United Kingdom and for possession of a substance that is prohibited in the country.
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Investigations into the doctor’s conduct began in early 2020, in which the UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) investigated measures related to Testogel orders for British Cycling, in Manchester – England, in 2011. In response, Richard Freeman claimed that the order had been delivered by mistake, however, after some investigations it was proven that the information was false.
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After the doctor’s trial was postponed, in January 2021, the accusations against Richard Freeman were confirmed, leading the professional to have his medical record excluded from the United Kingdom, that is, in this way, he was unable to work in his country of origin. However, even after the decision, Freeman filed the Superior Court review process, which caused the hearings and further investigation to be paused.
Even all information being proven by the National Anti-Doping Panel (NADP), Richard Freeman refused to attend the court hearings to give answers to his conduct, which led to the doctor losing his appeal in court and thus being convicted.
“The court was comfortably satisfied that Dr Freeman had ‘intended to make available to one or more of his athletes the prohibited substance delivered at Manchester Velodrome’. While Dr.Freeman accepted that he had lied to UKAD about returning the Testogel to the supplier, he stated that he had written to a non-pilot member of staff asking him to waive patient confidentiality and that he had refused to do so. The independent tribunal concluded that UKAD also proved the second tampering violation against Dr.Freeman, whose ‘conduct subverted doping control,'” reported the statement released by UK Anti-Doping (Ukad).
On the other hand, Frank Slevin, president of British Cycling, denounced the doctor’s behavior: “As we stated earlier, Dr. Freeman’s conduct during his employment at British Cycling bore no resemblance to the high ethical and professional standards that we, our members and our partners rightly hope.” Now, the professional has 21 days to appeal against the suspension decision.
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