The Commonwealth Games rejected suggestions of racial discrimination after Idi Amin’s grandson was disqualified from the boxing competition on Tuesday night.
Aziz Abdul, the grandson of Uganda’s late dictator, was thrown out of his fight against England’s Damar Thomas in the third and final round following two headbutts and angrily accused officials of bias.
“Of course it’s unfair,” Abdul said. “When you watch the previous fights of England, their boxers create a lot of fouls and they play a lot of bull—-. I am a black African, I know. I don’t why the officials are scared about this fight.”
Games chiefs, however, quickly refuted Abdul’s suggestions of discrimination and stressed that they had no concerns with the refereeing of the bout. “We at Commonwealth Sport believe that every athlete is treated fairly in a non-discriminatory manner; we are inclusive,” said Dr Donald Rukare, the Commonwealth Sport president, who is himself from Uganda and head of their Olympic committee. “It was a field of play decision. I think that was probably something said in the heat of the moment. The athletes are treated fairly.”
In the countdown to his appearance, Abdul outlined how Mike Tyson was his boxing hero. He was presumably thinking of knockouts rather than an infamous disqualification, but that was how his swift appearance would end against Thomas.
Trailing as the bout reached the third round, Abdul’s frustration boiled over, and he twice crashed his head into Thomas’s chin. These were clear fouls and the referee soon stepped in and signalled his disqualification. Thomas moved into the semi-finals of the 90kg+ super-heavyweight division. Abdul had already been deducted two points for punching on the break earlier in the fight.
Abdul had arrived in Scotland saying he wanted to become the “new King of Scotland” by winning boxing gold at the Commonwealth Games, crediting his grandfather as an inspiration. The 25-year-old added that he would become the “baddest man in the Commonwealth, the baddest man in Glasgow”.
Amin ruled Uganda for eight years in the 1970s, earning the nickname “The Butcher” after his dictatorship coincided with one of the most brutal and bloody periods in African history.