Mystery surrounds 'Miss Uzbekistan' at world beauty pageant after officials suggest she is an imposter

A screenshot of Rakima Ganieva's profile on Miss World's website. (Missworld.com)

Rakima Ganieva from the “beautiful and sunny city” of Tashkent describes herself as being a young world traveler, who enjoys tennis, playing the piano and reading books from famed Russian authors.

The 18-year-old, who is representing Uzbekistan at the ongoing Miss World beauty pageant in Indonesia also says she’s a graduate of the “Tashkent Professional College of Tourism” and aspires to be a lawyer.

But Uzbekistan officials say Ganieva has left out a few things from her Miss World 2013 profile: the country has never held a ‘Miss Uzbekistan’ contest, and they have no idea who she is.

The Uzbek Culture and Sports Ministry and the national committee on women told Radio Free Europe that they were not aware that Ganieva was participating in the Miss World pageant and suggested she was an imposter.

Zhavlon Komolov, a representative of the Tashkent-based Pro Models agency, said Ganieva briefly trained there as a 15-year-old but she is now “choosing to build her career on lies.”

“Rakhima Ganieva never passed through any special selection process in Uzbekistan," Komolov told Radio Free Europe.

Miss World officials have yet to comment on Ganieva, but in July, the organization’s website wrote in a post titled “Introducing... Uzbekistan!” that she would be representing the country for the first time at the competition this year.

Despite the doubt surrounding her entry into the pageant, Ganieva has been active on her Facebook page, posting photos of herself with Miss Russia, Albania and Georgia, The Telegraph reports.

And Miss World officials are currently looking for a new site to host the final event of the competition after hardline Islamists in Jakarta said the “pornographic” contest would tarnish the city’s image, according to Radio Free Europe.

The 2013 Miss World final is scheduled to take place on Sept. 28.