Valletta, Malta  - Top Maltese footballer Luke Dimech has been axed from the national squad after he refused to change the colour of his hair, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

Dimech, a stocky defender for the Valetta club, turned up for training on Saturday sporting a Mohican-hairstyle, dyed red, according to the Times of Malta.

Clearly not impressed with the 32-year-old player's new look, Malta's freshly appointed national team coach, John Buttigieg, asked Dimech to remove the dye before the team's next training session.

But on Monday, Dimech, who in the past has had spells in the lower leagues of English football with Macclesfield Town and Chester City, reported for training still wearing the hairdo.

Buttigieg, himself a former national team defender, promptly turned Dimech away from the training camp and also excluded him from the national squad for Wednesday's friendly match against Georgia.

The match, marks Buttigieg's first official game in charge of the tiny Mediterranean island nation's team which in eight qualifier matches for the 2010 World Cup, has only managed a single point. (dpa)