Russia opens criminal case into sports officials linked to doping scandal

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Investigative Committee said on Wednesday it had launched a criminal case into people with managerial responsibilities from the All-Russia Athletic Federation on charges of abuse of office in the period of 2009-2013.

The committee said in a statement the case was launched after a request for legal assistance by a court in Paris. According to the request from the French court, Russian athletics officials allowed violations of anti-doping rules, the statement said.

Russian sport has been rocked in recent months by allegations of a state-sponsored doping scandal.

(Reporting by Alexander Winning; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov)