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Russia opens criminal case against ex-lab head Rodchenkov

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities have opened a criminal case against the country's former anti-doping laboratory director Grigory Rodchenkov, who has become a key informant for allegations of doping at the Sochi Olympics.

Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markov tells state news agencies that Rodchenkov is accused of destroying 1,437 doping test samples at the Moscow laboratory in 2014 after a World Anti-Doping Agency commission asked they be preserved for its investigation.

The WADA commission had previously accused Rodchenkov of covering up doping by Russian athletes and destroying 1,417 samples. The reason for the discrepancy in numbers was not immediately clear.