Manchester City's Riyad Mahrez appeals to 'bro' Elon Musk after Twitter verified tick removal

Manchester City and Algeria football player Riyad Mahrez called on Twitter's soon-to-be owner Elon Musk to restore his Twitter verification status, after it disappeared from his profile page on Monday.

The football star, who captains the North African team, amusingly tagged the Tesla owner in a plea, asking him to bring back the verification badge to his account.

The badge, which appears in the form of a blue tick, is a marker of credibility for celebrities and organisations, distinguishing them from impostors, parody or troll accounts.

Mahrez, who has more than 3 million followers, tweeted: "Bro @elonmusk, give me my blue tick back," followed by a series of laughing emojis.

Bro @elonmusk give me my blue tick back 😂😂😂

— Riyad Mahrez (@Mahrez22) May 2, 2022

According to another Tweet posted by the Manchester City FC winger, the issue may lay in the footballer not re-verifying a relevant email address, after the platform recently updated its guidelines.

The incident prompted a series of amusing tweets, with some suggesting that "Mahrez could become the first non-verified Twitter user to score in the UEFA Champions League semi-final," due to take place on Wednesday against Spanish footballing giants Real Madrid.

As of 14:00 GMT on Tuesday, Mahrez’s account appeared to be once again verified, according to a tweet posted by the footballer.

Riyad Mahrez could become the first ever non verified Twitter user to score in a #UCL semi-final on Wednesday.

— mcfc lads (@mcfc_lads) May 2, 2022

Twitter’s terms of service state that the platform can remove verified statuses of an account "without any notice", which can be attributed to prolonged inactivity, a change of username or if the account’s owner is no longer in a position to be verified, such as government officials who leave office.

Verification ticks can also be removed if the user repeatedly violates the platform’s policy on abusive behaviour, hateful conduct and glorification of violence. Twitter previously revoked the verification status of several white supremacist and neo-Nazi accounts, such as alt-right activist Richard Spencer.

Rights groups such as Amnesty International have expressed fears over Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover that could see the platform relaxing its policies over hateful content. 

The Tesla owner has declared himself as a "free-speech absolutist" who prefers giving "time-out" instead of a permanent suspensions to accounts who have violated the microblogging site’s conduct.