Controversy Trails 2011 Miss Universe Pageant

Controversy surrounding the 2011 Miss Universe pageant has brewed up after reports have claimed that the winner Miss Angola used false documents to join the contest.
London Newspaper, Daily Mail in an article on Friday, September 16, 2011 reported that Leila Lopes, the newly crowned Miss Universe used fake documents to get into the contest. The paper went on to say that a certain Charles Mukano allegedly helped Lopes to join the Miss Angola UK, a beauty contest for Angolan women staying in London, ‘despite her living in Angola’.
An argentine new source also reported that Mukano also organized the beauty contest. But the Miss Universe Organization told the AOL Latino that they have never heard of Charles Mukano and that the Miss Angola pageant was organized by Renato Guttler.
Other contestants have also expressed their displeasure about Miss Angola winning. Laury Thilleman who represented France in the pageant said she ‘doubted Lopes’ victory in the Miss Universe pageant’.
‘She’s the only girl that I did not know too well. We did not see her much, she was very discreet. She was often in jeans and no makeup. We were all surprised by her victory. Many girls have made efforts that have not been rewarded. I do not know, there’s something missing in her temperament. The fact that the contest was held in Brazil has certainly played a role’, said Thilleman, who made the pageant’s final 10.
Lopes has however hit back at the ‘rumours’ at her first public appearance since winning the Miss Universe crown early this month in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
‘I think people should respect the decision (of the judges). Only one person out of 89 can be Miss Universe. (Even if) people are not satisfied with the result, they should not say such bad things’, Lopes told Today Online.
‘The one important thing I’ve learnt from the competition is that we have to know who we are and accept who we are … We can do whatever we want and be whoever we want’, she added.
The Miss Universe Organization is yet to release an official statement concerning the controversy.
On Monday, September 12, 2011 Miss Angola, Leila Lopes was crowned Miss Universe after she outshone 88 other contestants to win the pageant’s 60th edition in the Credicard Hall, Sao Paulo, Brazil.