Basketball player fails drug test when it finds he is pregnant

D.J. Cooper playing for Ohio during his college career in the US. Photo / Getty

An American basketball player plying his trade in Europe has been banned from the game after a drug test concluded that he was pregnant.

Donell 'DJ' Cooper, had been playing in Europe since missing out on the NBA draft and had played in Greece and France.

Cooper left AS Monaco in 2018 for "family reasons" and those reasons have been brought into the spotlight by the revelation that he failed a drug test.

Looking to join the Bosnian national team as a naturalised player, Cooper needed to take a drug test as part of the formalities.

Officials found that the sample he provided contained human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, a hormone produced during pregnancy.

A recently released report shows that the urine actually belonged to his girlfriend, who was likely unaware she was pregnant.

The international basketball federation (FIBA) suspended Cooper for fraud and he's not eligible to return to the game until June 2020.