The tribunal into former British Cycling and Team Sky doctor Richard Freeman has been adjourned until the New Year.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing had been due to finish on Friday but will now drag on well into 2020 on medical grounds.
The case looks likely to be delayed until resuming in May for another four-week stint, with Freeman’s lawyer Mary O’Rourke QC set to begin another unrelated case in January, which is scheduled to last 62 days.
But both parties agreed it might not be able to reach its eventual conclusion until October, with the dates set to be laid out on Tuesday.
The hearing had originally been due to begin in February before beginning eight months later but it has been curtailed by stoppages for legal arguments and concerns over Freeman’s health.
Freeman has been accused of ordering testosterone to British Cycling’s base back in 2011 for an athlete - a charge he and his legal team have denied.
He had been due to appear last week but was instead seeing his psychiatrist, according to O’Rourke, and has yet to give any evidence to the panel.
