Saudi sports authorities are cracking down on “anti-Islamic” footballers’ hairstyles, with one player banned from taking to the field until he cut his small mohawk.

In a video that has gone viral on YouTube, authorities refused to allow the player sporting a small mohawk at the front of his head to take to the field during a domestic game. While fans waited in the stadium, the player and senior members of his team argued with Saudi Football Federation authorities over the order.

He eventually allowed the tiny raised bit of hair – about 1 centimetre – to be cut with a pair of scissors on the sidelines of the field.

The head of the kingdom’s youth organisation last week asked its sport federations and Olympic committee to “ban the qazaa phenomenon”, using an Arabic name for eccentric styles often sported by footballers, the website www.arriyadiyah.com reported.

Local media said Islam banned eccentric haircuts.

A commentator for Arabic newspaper Al Jazirah on Friday urged the football federation to “impose sanctions” on offending players whose “bizarre haircuts are imitated by their fans in schools”, AFP reported.

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