Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez asks Elon Musk to restore his blue tick on Twitter

Premier League and Algeria star lost the verified badge for a short period of time

Manchester City player Riyad Mahrez lost his Twitter blue tick, which marks his account as 'verified,' before it was restored. AFP

Manchester City star and Algeria international Riyad Mahrez appealed to Elon Musk in a bid to recover his verified blue tick on Twitter after briefly losing the mark of credibility.

On Monday, Mahrez asked the billionaire, who plans to buy Twitter for $44 billion, to restore the blue tick to his account.

“Bro @elonmusk give me my blue tick back,” Mahrez said on Twitter. He has more than three million followers.

While Twitter has not commented on the matter, sources suggest Mahrez has failed to reverify the email address associated with his account after the platform updated its guidelines.

The footballer appeared to confirm that in a later tweet, promising to "verify my email".

The blue badge appeared again on Tuesday around 11:30 GMT. It is unclear if the footballer had resolved the email issue or if Mr Musk - who did not reply to Mahrez's request - had intervened.

Twitter's blue tick is a sought-after mark of credibility for officials and prominent users on the platform.

Mahrez has received support from users since losing his tick.

Some questioned whether he was the victim of a technical error, or if his account was hacked.

Others offered advice on how to have his account reverified.

“Keep in mind that Elon Musk isn't responsible for giving blue ticks. Go report the issue at Twitter Help Centre to get it fixed,” one user said.

Others made fun of the situation.

One Twitter user Photoshopped a blue tick onto Mahrez’s account, saying “with just one phone call to Elon Musk".

Twitter's terms of service say it can remove the verified status from an account at any time without notice.

Changes made to an account may result in the loss of a blue tick or, users may no longer qualify, such as when a government official leaves office.

In 2021, the company restarted the process for giving public figures the marker three years after it halted profile verifications amid controversy over the spread of fake news, hate speech and misinformation.

Blue ticks have been removed from accounts belonging to white supremacists and far-right activists. Other users have been barred from the platform altogether, such as former US president Donald Trump.

Last month, Mr Musk reached a deal to acquire Twitter for $44bn after criticising its policies regarding free speech.