 Diana Taurasi. AP photo |
American basketball star Diana Taurasi faces a possible two-year ban after her backup doping sample came back positive for a banned substance, Turkish news reports said Monday.
The Turkish basketball federation did not immediately confirm the reports by the Doğan news agency and broadcaster NTV, and neither news outlet cited a source for their reports. An official at Taurasi's club, Fenerbahçe Ülker, also would not confirm the report and said the team had not yet been notified of the result.
WNBA standout and former University of Connecticut star Taurasi tested positive for the stimulant modafinil while playing in Turkey's Women's Basketball League. She was tested following a league game on Nov. 13, and the positive result was confirmed last month.
Taurasi had been provisionally suspended by Fenerbahçe pending the result of her "B" sample test, which was analyzed at the doping lab at Hacettepe University in Ankara.
Modafinil is used to counter excessive sleepiness due to narcolepsy, shift-work sleep disorder or sleep apnea, according to drug manufacturers.
The stimulant has been involved in several major doping cases, including that of U.S. sprinter Kelli White, and is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances.
White won the 100- and 200-meter races at the 2003 world championships in Paris, but both her medals were stripped after she tested positive for the stimulant.
If the positive "B" sample finding is confirmed by Turkey's basketball federation, it could lead to a ban of up to two years for Taurasi. It could also put Taurasi's 2012 Olympics standing with the U.S. national basketball team in jeopardy. She has helped the team win gold medals at the past two Olympics and was the leading scorer at the women's world championships, which the Americans won in early October.
The International Olympic Committee bars any athlete given a doping penalty of six months or more from competing in the next games.
Meanwhile, two of Taurasi's teammates at Fenerbahçe resisted doping tests in Turkey because they do not trust the lab that tested her samples, daily HaberTürk reported.
Australian forward Penny Taylor and Hana Horakova of the Czech Republic provided samples only after the Turkish federation agreed to send them to Germany for testing at a lab in Cologne.
The two players were tested after Fenerbahçe's Turkish league game against Beşiktaş late Sunday. A Fenerbahçe official confirmed the report.
Taurasi led the WNBA in scoring for a league-record fourth straight year, averaging 22.6 points per game. The five-time All-Star and two-time WNBA champion signed a multiyear contract extension with the Phoenix Mercury in August.
She played in Russia for four years for powerhouse Spartak before joining the Turkish League this season. Taurasi was leading the league in scoring this season with 24.6 points a game.
Taurasi is one of many WNBA stars who play overseas in the winter because of higher salaries.
The news caused a big blow to defending Turkish champion.
Fans of Fenerbahçe men’s basketball team heavily protested Efes Pilsen players and coach Ergin Ataman after Efes center Kerem Gönlüm tested positive for banned substance in 2009. Efes then beat Fenerbahçe in the playoff final series, much to Fenerbahçe chairman Aziz Yıldırım’s anger.
Yıldırım then reportedly blamed Efes Pilsen of “giving players doping substances in an organized way.”
The Turkish basketball federation did not immediately confirm the reports by the Doğan news agency and broadcaster NTV, and neither news outlet cited a source for their reports. An official at Taurasi's club, Fenerbahçe Ülker, also would not confirm the report and said the team had not yet been notified of the result.
WNBA standout and former University of Connecticut star Taurasi tested positive for the stimulant modafinil while playing in Turkey's Women's Basketball League. She was tested following a league game on Nov. 13, and the positive result was confirmed last month.
Taurasi had been provisionally suspended by Fenerbahçe pending the result of her "B" sample test, which was analyzed at the doping lab at Hacettepe University in Ankara.
Modafinil is used to counter excessive sleepiness due to narcolepsy, shift-work sleep disorder or sleep apnea, according to drug manufacturers.
The stimulant has been involved in several major doping cases, including that of U.S. sprinter Kelli White, and is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances.
White won the 100- and 200-meter races at the 2003 world championships in Paris, but both her medals were stripped after she tested positive for the stimulant.
If the positive "B" sample finding is confirmed by Turkey's basketball federation, it could lead to a ban of up to two years for Taurasi. It could also put Taurasi's 2012 Olympics standing with the U.S. national basketball team in jeopardy. She has helped the team win gold medals at the past two Olympics and was the leading scorer at the women's world championships, which the Americans won in early October.
The International Olympic Committee bars any athlete given a doping penalty of six months or more from competing in the next games.
Meanwhile, two of Taurasi's teammates at Fenerbahçe resisted doping tests in Turkey because they do not trust the lab that tested her samples, daily HaberTürk reported.
Australian forward Penny Taylor and Hana Horakova of the Czech Republic provided samples only after the Turkish federation agreed to send them to Germany for testing at a lab in Cologne.
The two players were tested after Fenerbahçe's Turkish league game against Beşiktaş late Sunday. A Fenerbahçe official confirmed the report.
Taurasi led the WNBA in scoring for a league-record fourth straight year, averaging 22.6 points per game. The five-time All-Star and two-time WNBA champion signed a multiyear contract extension with the Phoenix Mercury in August.
She played in Russia for four years for powerhouse Spartak before joining the Turkish League this season. Taurasi was leading the league in scoring this season with 24.6 points a game.
Taurasi is one of many WNBA stars who play overseas in the winter because of higher salaries.
The news caused a big blow to defending Turkish champion.
Fans of Fenerbahçe men’s basketball team heavily protested Efes Pilsen players and coach Ergin Ataman after Efes center Kerem Gönlüm tested positive for banned substance in 2009. Efes then beat Fenerbahçe in the playoff final series, much to Fenerbahçe chairman Aziz Yıldırım’s anger.
Yıldırım then reportedly blamed Efes Pilsen of “giving players doping substances in an organized way.”
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