Miss Uzbekistan; Rakhima Ganieva (Credit: Miss World) 

It appears that there’s a level of controversy at the Miss World pageant in Indonesia this year, and Miss Uzbekistan is right in the middle of it. While we may never know what really happened, this is what the world news media is reporting.

Earlier this month, Rakhima Ganieva appeared at the Miss World pageant in Bali to announce that she’s the Uzbekistan representative. However, officials at the Uzbek Ministry of Sports and Culture, the Uzbek National Committee for Women, and the Tashkent-based Pro Models modeling agency all deny that they know anything about her! Officials at the Miss World pageant haven’t released a statement and she remains listed as an official contestant on their website.

So, what are we supposed to think?  Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan are the other Central Asia countries that have sent their representatives, so it’s only fitting that Uzbekistan gets a chance, too. All I know is that she’s beautiful and deserves the opportunity to compete. She will be the first woman to represent Uzbekistan and I think it’s great that this multi-faceted country is presenting another aspect itself to the world. The pageant final is on September 28th, so let’s wish her good luck at the competition!

Posted by Greg Stephenson