Miss Earth South Africa Disqualified For Being Too Short

By Profile photo of Allison Kratz

On OCTOBER 24, 2017

While pageantry has largely evolved to be based on more than just a contestant’s physical appearance, some pageant systems still have height requirements that a contestant must meet to be eligible to compete. Miss Earth South Africa 2017 was removed from the Miss Earth 2017 competition for not meeting one of those requirements. (Read: Are Miss Earth Contestants Being Objectified?)

About the disqualification

The pageant community stirred after the news of Miss Earth South Africa 2017 Irini Moutzouris’ disqualification from the Miss Earth 2017 was announced. Each Miss Earth delegate is required to be at least 165 cm while Moutzouris stands at 164 cm. Because she does not meet the minimum height requirement, the Miss Earth Organization has decided to remove her eligibility to compete in events going forward.

The Miss Earth South Africa Organization released a statement that said, “The international body has a different set of rules to our local program, their event is governed by rules and requirements on height and weight, and they made the decision to not allow Irini to compete in the final leg of the competition based on the height requirement.”

Photo: Kevin Mark Pass
Photo: Kevin Mark Pass
The national director of the Miss Earth South Africa Organization, Ella Bella Leite, said, “As an organization, we were aware of these regulations and we took a chance as the mavericks that we are to send our ambassador anyway… We strongly believe in our candidate. She is an energetic and passionate advocate for the environment and for the education of young people… We stand by our decision to grant her the opportunity to represent our country, organization and environmental advocacy at the international event.” (Read: Pageant Question About Rule Breaking)

Moutzouris will be returning home to South Africa to aid with the preparations for the next Miss Earth South Africa competition and finish out her reign.

About height requirements

Controversies like this bring discussions on whether height and weight requirements still have a place in pageantry. Many in the pageant community are saying that you certainly do not need to be a certain height to be a leader, so the height requirements are severely outdated and remnant of a time where pageants existed only to judge physical beauty. Others are blaming the Miss South Africa Organization for knowingly breaking the rules set by the Miss Earth Organization.

What do you think? Are rules meant to be followed or should the Miss Earth Organization abolish the height requirement? Let us know below! (Read: Strict Height Requirements Set for Miss India)

https://thepageantplanet.com/miss-earth-south-africa-disqualified-for-being-too-short/