Dr Richard Freeman pulls out of attending
Varnish's lawyer David Reade QC said an ongoing General Medical Council investigation into Freeman, a former Team Sky doctor, had caused his legal team to reconsider his attendance.
Freeman is due to appear at a GMC hearing in February to explain how a mystery delivery of testosterone arrived at Team Sky's headquarters in 2011.
Well he's given evidence anyway (in writing). My reading is that it backs Varnish's case, but the Judge doesn't rate his view as very significant:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/46560959"Ex-British Cycling and Team Sky doctor Richard Freeman pulled out of appearing for Varnish on legal advice.
But Judge Ross accepted a written statement from Freeman at the Manchester tribunal on Thursday.
"The control by the coaches over the athletes was complete - cycling is a coach-led sport," wrote Freeman, heard on day three of the tribunal.
"The coach would decide everything. The athletes were very firmly controlled."
Sprinter Varnish, 28, was dropped from British Cycling's elite programme in 2016, after which former technical director Shane Sutton was found to have used sexist language towards her.
Sutton had already resigned though was later cleared of eight of nine allegations.
Varnish has to persuade the judge that she was effectively employed by British Cycling and the funding agency UK Sport before she can sue British Cycling for wrongful dismissal, sex discrimination and detriment to a whistle-blower.
The former European team sprint champion says British Cycling's control over her made it akin to her employer.
In his statement, Freeman said "non-compliance was not acceptable" because the coaches alone decided whether riders would stay on the programme.
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