Former British Cycling and Team Sky chief medical officer Richard Freeman has been banned from all sport for four years, effectively December 21st, 2024 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 December 22nd, 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," UKAD chief executive Jane Rumble said. "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.