Businessmen to celebrities, many had been spectators to the nerve-wracking FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and France on December 18, 2022. Twitter CEO Elon Musk was spotted among the audience watching the finals in Qatar. Here he was photographed with a sanctioned and pro-Russian TV presenter, Nailya Asker-Zade.
Twitter underwent a tonne of changes in the past months. And recently the social media platform banned a number of high-profile critical journalists. They were falsely accused of sharing Musk’s “exact real-time location”. It is amidst all this chaos that he met with Nailya Asker-Zade, who has been sanctioned by both Canada and UK during the Ukraine war.
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Elon Musk Photographed With Nailya Asker-Zade
At the FIFA World Cup held in Qatar on December 18, 2022, the billionaire Elon Musk was photographed along with the pro-Putin propagandist and TV presenter Nailya Asker-Zade. The TV presenter posted her selfie along with Musk on her Telegram account just after the World Cup.
“Argentina beat France on penalties in the World Cup final. I agree with Elon Musk’s assessment of the match: ‘A duel in the desert. A better game could not have been wished for.’ I saw how he shared his emotions about what is happening on the field on his Twitter,” she wrote. “I also have a lot of bright emotions — I will tell you soon,” she added.
Asker-Zade in her comment was referring to the tweet made by Elon Musk on his Twitter account after Argentina won the match. Different photographs and TikTok videos also showed Musk posing for a selfie with the pro-Russian TV presenter. The Tesla CEO was also seen with Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the finals.
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TV Presenter Sanctioned By BothThe UK And Canada
The 35-year-old TV presenter Nailya Asker-Zade works at the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK). She has been sanctioned by both the UK and Canada during the Russia-Ukraine war.
“As such, she is associated with two entities (VGTRK and Kostin), both of which is or has been involved in obtaining a benefit from or supporting the Government of Russia by carrying on business as a Government of Russia-affiliated entity,” the UK government had cited its reason to sanction Asker-Zade. Here VGTRK is where Asker-Zade works. And Kostin is the Russian banking oligarch Andrei Kostin, who heads the sanctioned VTB Bank.
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