With results of Diana Taurasi's "B" sample expected to be made official as early as Tuesday, I thought it would be a good idea to read up on what faces the former UConn star's backup sample comes back positive for the banned substance modafinil as did her initial sample when she was tested on Nov. 13.

First of all, it is pretty clear that the lab at Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey has some credibility issues. How much, well Penny Taylor and Hana Horakova Taurasi's teammates on the Fenerbahce team in Istanbul, Turkey refused to submit a sample for testing until the Turkish federation agreed to send the samples to a lab in Germany. There has been a report that Taurasi also had a sample sent to the German lab as it is clear the Taurasi camp is going to dispute the results at the lab in Ankara, which according to reports had previously had their license to conduct anti-doping tests temporarily revoked.

It goes without saying that there are some unknowns in this whole deal. If Taurasi's 'B' sample is positive as a Turkish television station reported today, she could be prohibited from playing in the 2012 Olympics. Both USA Basketball and the WNBA have reserved comment until they have all the facts in this case. Both organizations could be entering new ground since you'd be hard pressed to find the last women's basketball player to face a suspension for doping.

With that being said, here's what I found while reading the World Anti-Doping Associations by laws.

First, the burden of proof on whether a doping offense has been committed is on the WADA.

The most interesting part of the WADA handbook in this matter is the following excerpt especially in the wake of reports on the practices of the Turkish lab.

WADA-accredited laboratories are presumed to have conducted Sample analysis and custodial procedures in accordance with the International Standard for Laboratories. The Athlete or other Person may rebut this presumption by establishing that a departure from the International Standard for Laboratories occurred which could reasonably have caused the Adverse Analytical Finding.

The penalty for a first-time offender is two years but it is clear by my research that number is not set in stone.

Assuming the test is faulty would be the initial line of defense for Taurasi's representives, the second step could be to claim that modafinil was in her system for non-doping reasons.

Here's a portion from the WADA handbook dealing with this issue

Examples of the type of objective circumstances which in combination might lead a hearing panel to be comfortably satisfied of no performance-enhancing intent
would include: the fact that the nature of the Specified Substance or the timing of its ingestion would not have been beneficial to the Athlete; the Athlete’s open Use or disclosure of his or her Use of the Specified Substance; and a contemporaneous medical records file substantiating the non sport-related prescription for the Specified Substance.
Generally, the greater the potential performance-enhancing benefit, the higher the burden on the Athlete to prove lack of an intent to enhance sport performance.

The use of modafinil has resulted in the suspension of elite athletes including U.S. sprinter Kelli White, who was stripped of her 100 and 200 meter gold medals at the 2003 World Track and Field Championships after testing positive for modafinil. Obviously, if it gets to this point Taurasi and her reps will be grasping at straws.

If she can establish how modanifil entered her system accidentally or medically, the period of suspension can be eliminated. The problem I see with this defense is that I don't see how you could go from "the lab messed up to my test results" to "OK, I took the banned substance but this is why."

Changing gears, there is a chance to cut the period of ineligibility in half with a timely admission of guilt. The problem here is that any doping suspension of at least six months results in an athlete being banned from competing in the Olympics by the International Olympic Committee so pleading guilty in a timely fashion would keep Taurasi out of the 2012 Olympics.

Another point of interest is that once Taurasi tested positive, the entire Fenerbahce team became subjected to testing according to the WADA rules. If a second Fenerbahce player were to test positive, the team could be faced with penalties from the Turkish Federation.

Even after the WADA makes it ruling, Taurasi will be eligible to file an appeal. Assuming I am reading the rules correctly, she would have 21 days to file an appeal once WADA makes its decision.

Considering that Taurasi is arguably the world's best women's basketball player, this is a case that will be making news for the foreseeable future.

Taurasi has stayed out of the spotlight since news of her first positive test was leaked last month but her college coach said Taurasi is professing her innocence.

"I’m not privy to all the information," Geno Auriemma said. "I don’t know what her attorney knows. I don’t know what the Turkish federation knows. I don’t know what the doping agency knows. I don’t know any of that stuff. All I know is from talking to Diana. I know she’s really, really devastated by all this. She told me `Coach, I didn’t take that. Whatever they’re saying I didn’t do it.’ I’ve got to believe her. My feeling is I’m going to believe Diana until proven otherwise. There’s too many inconsistencies over there with what happened. There’s too many question marks about the agency that administered the test.

"I don’t know anything other than what I’ve heard. And if it comes out that Diana did and I still don’t understand the total effects of how this drug improves your performance because I don’t know that it’s a performance-enhancing drug from what I’ve read of the drug. I don’t know how that makes you a better basketball player. I don’t know. I don’t know how that works. But if it turns out that she did indeed do it and she’s found guilty then she’ll have to serve her punishment, whatever that is, and move on from there. But up until then I’ve just got to go with what D says. I wish I could tell you more, but I don’t. I’m in touch with her agent on a regular basis and I try to keep in touch with D as much as you can. Hopefully, this will get resolved. How or when? That I don’t know."