Rakima Ganieva from Tashkent is said to be the winner of 'Miss Uzbekistan' and representing the nation at the ongoing Miss World beauty pageant in Indonesia. However, Uzbek officials have claimed that she is an imposter.
The officials have claimed that the country has never held a 'Miss Uzbekistan' contest, and they have no idea who the 18-year-old is.
The Uzbek Culture and Sports Ministry and the national committee on women said that they were not aware that Ganieva was participating in the Miss World pageant and suggested she was an imposter, Fox News reports.
A representative of the Tashkent-based Pro Models agency, Zhavlon Komolov, said that Ganieva briefly trained there as a 15-year-old but she is now choosing to build her career on lies.
According to the report, Miss World officials are yet to comment on the matter, but the organization's website suggested that Ganieva's is the first-ever entry from Uzbekistan at the competition this year.
The 2013 Miss World final is scheduled to take place on Sept. 28.
