ISTANBUL (EuroLeague Women) - Diana Taurasi had her contract cancelled by Fenerbahce at the beginning of the year following a controversial doping test that was ultimately ruled null and void.

That experience hasn’t put the Team USA star off from playing basketball in the country again.

Galatasaray have announced that they have secured the services of Taurasi, a member of the all-tournament team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, for next season. She is their third huge capture in the past couple of weeks.

Alba Torrens, the Spain international and EuroLeague Women MVP after helping Halcon Avenida win the title last month, and former Nadezha Orenburg center Tina Charles - a USA gold medal winner last year in the Czech Republic - have also agreed to move to Istanbul to play for Gala.

There had been speculation that Fenerbahce, who convinced Australia's Penny Taylor to return to the team in April, would also go after Taurasi but now their arch rivals have the star that many consider to be the best women’s player of all time.

Taurasi has won gold medals with the Americans at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics and also last year’s FIBA World Championship for Women in the Czech Republic.

Her signing is confirmed on the Galatasaray website.

As for the doping test, the lab that said Taurasi had tested positive for modafinil, a banned stimulant that combats insomnia and other sleep-related conditions, retracted its report in February.

FIBA