Twitter has developed into a crucial medium for prominent personalities to interact with their fans, share their thoughts, and promote their work. The verification process on Twitter, however, had drawn criticism, notably when Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and now Twitter, posted about having the blue tick removed from his account. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the blue tick on Twitter serves as a mark of verification and denotes that the account belongs to a famous person or celebrity. Additionally, it shows that Twitter has confirmed the user's identity, making it simpler for followers to locate and follow the appropriate accounts.

After Elon Musk’s takeover, the rules and regulations around blue tick have changed. There was a lot of debate in the virtual and physical worlds about Elon Musk's decision to withdraw the blue badges from previously verified accounts unless they signed up for Twitter Blue. Many athletes have lost their blue tick which includes some of the top athletes in the world. In fact, LeBron James didn’t lose his verification because Elon Musk decided to pay for it himself. Let’s take a look at the athletes who lost the blue tick:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo - 108 million followers

2. Neymar Jr - 62 million followers

3. Virat Kohli - 55 million followers

4. Sachin Tendulkar - 38 million followers

5. Kevin Durant - 29 million followers

The Portugal star used to have a verification stamp next to his profile name, but it's now missing despite having an impressive 108.3 million followers. Ronaldo is just one of many well-known figures to suffer as a result of Musk's new policy, which eliminates the so-called "legacy" checks and requires users to pay for privileges as part of the new "Twitter Blue" programme.

LeBron James (52.7 million followers), a star NBA player for the Los Angeles Lakers, has preserved his blue tick after earlier stating that he would not be paying for the membership. According to reports, Musk paid for the verification of his account out of his own wallet.

Although Lionel Messi doesn't have a personal Twitter account, the tick has also been deleted from his official "Team Messi" page. Neymar, who has 62 million more Twitter followers than Ronaldo (the most followed footballer), has joined the herd by creating an unverified profile. Many players in the Premier League expressed concern over losing their ticks, with Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez taking a philosophical stance towards his sudden shift in status. Mason Mount, a forward for Chelsea, took things a step further on Thursday when he completely stopped using Twitter in protest of Elon Musk's updates to the social media site.