Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire whose Ineos chemicals company sponsors Team Ineos, has suggested his pledge to pull out of cycling if the team broke any doping rules does not cover past events.
Ratcliffe had said when he took over
from Sky as the team’s sponsor earlier this year his company would withdraw
from the team if it broke any doping rules.
At present, practices within Team Sky
are being closely examined at a fitness to practice hearing involving Dr
Richard Freeman, the former Team Sky and British Cycling doctor.
Dr Freeman has now admitted that he
ordered sachets of testosterone to the Manchester velodrome back in 2011.
Previously he said they were delivered by mistake and sent back.
He now says he ordered them to treat
Shane Sutton’s erectile dysfunction rather than to dope any riders.
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However, Sutton has very strenuously
denied this and also denies he had any erectile dysfunction issues.
The General Medical Council alleges Freeman did not order the testosterone for Sutton but to dope a rider, which he denies.
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The GMC hearing is continuing in Britain
and last week it emerged research on the impact of testosterone on cyclists had
been viewed on Freeman’s laptop.
However, Ratcliffe has now told The Times newspaper that he is only concerned about practices in the team on his watch; since he became sponsor back in May.
“I am not
interested in the history, just our watch and going forward. If there are any
issues for Dave he will have to deal with those. There is nothing happening in
our team,” he said.
“We checked all the procedures, everything, doctors’ records. You buy
a cycling team, there wasn’t much legal work to do but we spent a lot of time
on due diligence on the team.
“We had external lawyers do those
checks, looking at the procedures, testing. We took it seriously.
“The regulations when we bought, and the
procedures in Team Sky, were the most sophisticated and rigorous in the cycling
world.
“Our chief counsel, who looks at
compliance across Ineos, was responsible for looking at compliance in cycling.
“And if he ever tells me he has a
concern, that will be it done for us. The day any of that enters our world then
we would leave cycling. I don’t think it will.”
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