Official results of Taurasi’s “B” sample: positive. Fenerbahce terminates her contract.
The official results of Diana Taurasi’s “B” sample are positive for the banned stimulant modafinil according to the Turkish Federation. The organization posted the outcome of the drug test on its website and said no decision has been made yet about whether or not she will be punished.
The WNBA star’s Turkish team Fenerbahce also terminated her contract. Fenerbahce signed Atlanta Dream player Angel McCoughtry earlier this week. Fenerbahce posted the announcement of Taurasi’s release on their website. She now faces a possible ban of up to two years, a situation that could damage her chances of playing in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Taurasi tested positive for the substance last month and the results of the tests were leaked shortly before the Christmas holidays.
Two of Taurasi’s teammates on Fenerbahce, the Turkish league she is playing for during the WNBA offseason, have resisted testing by the Ankara, Turkey lab approved by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Penny Taylor of Australia and Hana Horakova of the Czech Republic refused to have their samples tested until the country’s basketball federation agreed to have the samples sent to a lab in Germany.