The 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow has been gripped by a boxing controversy following the disqualification of Ugandan super-heavyweight competitor Aziz Abdul, the grandson of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. The 25-year-old fighter was ejected from his third-round bout against England’s Damar Thomas after referees ruled he intentionally headbutted Thomas in the chin during a grappling exchange.
Abdul had picked up two formal warnings for rule violations in the opening two rounds of the match, and was trailing on all three judges’ scorecards heading into the third round. The controversial disqualification handed Thomas an automatic walkover win, guaranteeing the English fighter at least a bronze medal, and ended Abdul’s bid to make history for his country: a win would have secured Uganda’s first Commonwealth boxing medal since the 1990 Auckland games.
Speaking to BBC Sport immediately after the decision, Abdul rejected the referees’ call, claiming the head movement was accidental, and accused officials of systemic bias against him as a Black African athlete competing on British soil. He insisted Thomas had used illegal elbow strikes against him unpenalized, and that judges refused to count his clean, heavy landed punches before penalizing him for an accidental clash.
“How can I headbutt someone? I would not. He was the person they wanted to win. He was the winner before the fight even started,” Abdul said. “I knew going in if I did not get a knockout, I could not win this fight. The decision is not right, I am not happy.”
Abdul had previously drawn international attention ahead of the bout for echoing his grandfather’s infamous 1976 declaration, telling reporters he aimed to become the “new King of Scotland” during the games. The elder Amin, a one-time amateur boxer himself, was a controversial figure with a long-held fascination for Scotland, developed during his service in the King’s African Rifles in his 20s. After seizing power in a 1971 military coup, he led a brutal eight-year regime responsible for the deaths of an estimated 500,000 Ugandans, earning him the nickname “The Butcher of Uganda.”
At the height of his rule, Amin regularly wore kilts and played bagpipes, and famously declared himself the “King of Scotland” in 1976, a moment that later became the core premise of the Oscar-winning 2006 drama *The Last King of Scotland*, starring Forest Whitaker as the dictator. Aziz Abdul, who never met his grandfather, has previously stated he draws inspiration from Amin, though he has declined to confirm whether that inspiration relates to Amin’s history as a boxer or his political rule. When asked if he was proud to be related to a figure of such a notorious, sinister reputation, Abdul declined to comment.
Thomas, for his part, acknowledged the win came in unsatisfying fashion, saying it was “not the way” he wanted to advance in the tournament. “I can’t change what happened today but I can control how I box on Friday,” he added, referencing his upcoming semi-final bout. BBC Sport has reached out to both Commonwealth Games organizing officials and World Boxing for comment on Abdul’s allegations of bias, and had not received a response as of publication.