More recently, before the 2018 Pyeongchang games began, controversies arose in Russia about possibly boycotting the games. Alexander Zhukov, president of the Russian Olympic Community stated that if Russia boycotted these Olympics it could have resulted in a ban on the next four Olympic games. The ROC chief realized that the harsh consequences of boycotting one Olympic game would be the equivalent of boycotting four in the eyes of the Olympic committee. However, tensions arose months before the 2018 Olympics when the International Olympic Committee suspended the membership of the ROC in result to a doping issue with some Russian athletes. Russia had almost boycotted themselves out of the Olympics because of the illegal doping allegations, but Following their statement, The IOC did allow for “clean” Russian athletes to participate in the Pyeongchang games. Russia’s “clean” athletes did compete in the Olympics for a flag called the Olympic Athletes from Russia, but Russia was close to boycotting and or being banned from the Olympics. Historically, When Countries boycott the Olympic games it creates a negative image on the host nation and causes controversy with the boycotting nation. Since 1976, Over 91 countries have boycotted the Olympic games including the United States, Russia, China, and many others. During the late 1970s and 1980s, racial discrimination played a factor in the world along with tensions regarding the Soviet Union and other powers. Before the 1980 Moscow Olympics, The Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan, and in result to the invasion, some of the countries in that area and around the world boycotted the Olympics that year. Since not many nations attended the 1980 Olympics, the Soviet Union was looked down on as a poor host nation for the games. Overall, when a country boycotts the Olympics it is because of the poor relationship it has with the host nation, and sometimes it can be warranted it just depends on the past situations, current situation, or the buildup to the games.