Brazilian U20 soccer match makes history with 51 red cards after mass brawl

SAO PAULO — A state-level under-20 soccer match in Brazil may have attracted the unwanted world record for most red cards: 51.

Marching orders were issued to 43 players and eight staff during and after Mamore's 3-1 win at Uberlandia in the semifinals of the second division of the Minas Gerais state U20 championship on Sunday.

The Guinness Book of Records says the most red cards shown in a professional soccer match is 36 in 2011 during a match in Argentina's fifth division between Atletico Claypole and Victoriano Arenas.

Sunday's match report by referee Fernando Patrick Modesto says 48 people, including players and coaching staff, were sent off because of a brawl after the final goal.

“During the celebration of his team's third goal, a player made provocative gestures to the bench of the hosts and uttered the following words,” Modesto's report says, adding expletives as used by the player.

Two Mamore players were sent off later, one for threatening to hit the referee and the other for punching a rival after the brawl. An Uberlandia player was sent off earlier for a second yellow card.