A state-level under-20 soccer match in Brazil may have set an unwanted world record after 51 red cards were shown during and after Mamore's 3-1 win over Uberlandia in the semifinals of the second division of the Minas Gerais state U20 championship on Sunday, according to agency reports. Marching orders were issued to 43 players and eight staff members.
The Guinness Book of Records currently lists the most red cards shown in a professional soccer match as 36, handed out during a 2011 match in Argentina's fifth division between Atletico Claypole and Victoriano Arenas.
Referee Fernando Patrick Modesto's match report on Sunday's game states that 48 people, including players and coaching staff, were sent off because of a brawl that broke out after the final goal.
According to Modesto's report, "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," with the report adding the expletives 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 player after the brawl. An Uberlandia player had earlier been sent off for a second yellow card.
