I previously had an account under the same email address, but this account was deleted from Microsoft Entra ID and subsequently from Azure DevOps when I left the organization a few years ago. Presumably, the SonarCloud account it was linked to still exists in limbo somewhere. Now, a one years later, I am back with the organization and have received a new account in Microsoft Entra ID (and therefore Azure DevOps) with the same email address as my old account.
Upon logging in to SonarCloud through Azure DevOps now, it looks like SonarCloud has created a new account (with different ID), but refuses to link the email address because it is still linked to the old account. Obviously, I cannot access the old account anymore, since the Microsoft Entra ID it was created from has been deleted long ago on our side.
Potential workaround-the workaround mentioned in the other question is to change the email in Azure DevOps. However, this is not an option in my case, as the Azure DevOps user is linked to Microsoft Entra ID, so the email address is fixed and cannot be changed on our end. It is also against policy to add users with a different email address to the organization.