Russia banned from entering Miss Supranational amid Ukraine crisis

Graye Morkel 02 Mar

The Miss Supranational Organisation has banned Russia from sending a representative to the upcoming edition of the international beauty pageant.
Photo by Wildan Alfani (Unsplash)

The Miss Supranational Organisation has banned Russia from sending a representative to the upcoming edition of the international beauty pageant.
The organisation said they're choosing to "stand up for freedom and unity".
South Africa's Lalela Mswane will represent the country at the 13th edition, hosted in Poland later this year.

The Miss Supranational Organisation has banned Russia from entering the 2022 edition of the international beauty pageant, which takes place in Poland later this year.

"We will not accept a contestant from Russia as we cannot condone the actions of the Kremlin," said an official statement by the Miss Supranational Organisation President and CEO, Gerhard Parzutka von Lipinski.

This comes after Russia launched a devastating attack on Ukraine last week, setting off what the European Union called some of the "darkest" days in the continent since the end of World War 2.

"Ukraine has been a very special part of the Supra Family since the beginning of our competition in 2009 when Oksana Moria won the very first title in Poland. The European Union, where many countries joined together to cooperate with one another, is an excellent example of supranationalism.

"Today, we are joining the EU, countries around the world, sports federations, cultural events and the people around the world who choose to stand up for freedom and unity," said the statement further.

Reigning Miss South Africa, Lalela Mswane, will represent the country at the upcoming Miss Supranational competition.

Lalela competed at Miss Universe in December 2021 held in Israel and placed third, despite a public outcry for the country to boycott the pageant.

Last year, South Africa's Thato Mosehle was crowned second runner-up at Miss Supranational 2021, which ultimately saw Namibia's Chanique Rabe walk away with the coveted title.

https://www.news24.com/channel/the-juice/news/pageant/russia-banned-from-entering-miss-supranational-amid-ukraine-crisis-20220302