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Со всей этой историей с допингами, ...
{or}: Со всеми этими историями с допингами, ...
I wonder if it is more common in Russian to use a singular construction with this "история" expression. If so, what is the rationale for using the singular? In French, you express the same idea in the plural:
{plural}: Avec toutes ces histoires de dopage, ...
{not singular}: Avec toute cette histoire de dopage, ...
I do not feel like using "история" or "истории" changes the overall feeling of the sentence. It just depends on whether there was only one "story" or a couple.
I would like to note that историями с допингами makes the sentence heavy and more difficult to pronounce. That is why the first option is preferable.
Basically, there is no difference between plural and singular forms of the sentences like that. However, in some contexts (sic!), the use of the plural can reduce the importance of the subject. This can be explained as follows: "history" is unique (and significant...); if there are many "histories", they are likely routine and should not be significant. "Истории" sometimes means "случаи", "обыденные ситуации" and so on, up to "байки", "сплетни"... However, sometimes (mostly infrequently), the singular word "история" can be used in a figurative sense like "россказни" and so on.
