Former British Cycling chief doctor Richard Freeman has lodged an appeal to the High Court after he was struck off the medical register, his legal team has said.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal found his fitness to practise impaired on Thursday, March 18, with the sanction imposed and confirmed the following day.
Freeman, 61, either admitted, or was found guilty of, 21 of 22 charges relating to the ordering of testosterone to British Cycling headquarters in 2011, as well as poor record-keeping and inappropriate treatment of non-riders.
He resigned from his positions with British Cycling and Team Sky in October 2017.
The central charge, which he denied, was that he ordered the Testogel 'knowing or believing' it was to be given to a rider for doping purposes.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal reached verdicts at the end of a long-running hearing in Manchester.
The three charges he denied centred around the Testogel but the tribunal did not believe him, concluding: "Bearing in mind the breadth of Dr Freeman's dishonesty and the number of people he had pulled into it, the Tribunal found his conduct incapable of innocent explanation.
"It was clear that, on the balance of probabilities, the inference could properly be drawn that, when Dr Freeman placed the order and obtained the Testogel, he knew or believed it was to be administered to an athlete to improve their athletic performance."
Freeman claimed the Testogel was ordered to treat former performance director Shane Sutton’s erectile dysfunction.
The Australian vociferously denied both suffering from the condition or having heard of the substance prior to the case.
He stormed out of the hearing room during a tumultuous day of evidence in 2019.
The appeal is likely to focus on Mr Sutton's evidence and the tribunal's conclusion that he was a credible and consistent witness.
A hearing is not expected to take place until November or December, according to reports.
At the time of the events Freeman, who qualified in 1984, was practising as a team doctor for British Cycling, the national governing body for cycle sport in Great Britain.
He worked in the role from 2010 to 2015 and then, from October 2016 to October 2017, as its head of medicine.
Freeman was also contracted, in parallel with his work at British Cycling, as the lead team doctor for the professional cycling team Tour Racing, also known as Team Sky, from around January 2010 to 2016.
He said he 'vehemently' disagreed with the tribunal’s determination and had been involved in the ongoing coronavirus vaccination programme, but the panel ruled he should be suspended immediately pending the result of any appeal.
Freeman is also facing two UK Anti-Doping charges regarding the ordering of the testosterone.
In a statement today, JMW Solicitors said: "We confirm that Mr Freeman has lodged an appeal against the decision of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service on March 19, 2021, and that he has appointed a new legal team to advise on that appeal.
"The new legal team is being led by Graham Small at JMW Solicitors."
Mr Small said: "Mr Freeman is innocent of wrong doing and we are confident that the truth will ultimately be recognised by the UK justice system."
