Brazilian U20 match ends with 51 red cards after mass brawl, a likely world record

Match and brawl

The under-20 semi-final of the Minas Gerais second division, between Uberlândia and Mamoré, was played on Sunday, 1 November, and Mamoré won 3-1 at the Parque do Sabiá stadium. The trouble started after Mamoré's third goal, scored in the 54th minute by Davi Fernandes Bittencourt. Per the match report, a goalkeeping coach of Uberlândia ran onto the pitch and shoved the scorer, after the scorer had taunted the home bench. Players, coaching staff and even ballboys then joined in, with punches, kicks, chairs and other objects. The fight lasted about forty minutes, and police were called in to restore order.

Il Fatto Quotidiano reports that the brawl drew in almost everyone on the pitch, and the referee halted the match for good. Research by the regional portal Paranaíba Mais, as cited by Berliner Zeitung, claims that six ballboys hit, kicked and threw objects at Mamoré players and staff. Berliner Zeitung also reports that the trouble began earlier in the second half, when club officials stormed the pitch after a player from Uberlândia was sent off and crowded the referee.

Dismissals

Referee Fernando Patrick had already shown four red cards before the brawl, two to each side. Because the chaos made it impossible to show every card, he recorded the dismissals in the match report instead. That report lists 43 players and eight members of the coaching staff sent off, 51 in total. Other counts are higher: one version gives 52 (44 players and eight staff), another gives 53 (43 players, eight staff and two club officials). SAPO, reporting on the same match, gives 22 dismissals for Uberlândia and 29 for Mamoré, and says 48 of them came during the brawl itself.

Players43

Coaching staff8

Players

43

Coaching staff

8

Data from the article text

Damage and threats

The stadium manager filed a complaint listing damage to about 14 doors, along with sinks, taps, showers, toilets, lockers, wooden benches and electrical installations. Stretchers and two hot tubs were also damaged. Military police from Minas Gerais attended the stadium but arrested no one, according to Spiegel Online. SAPO reports that the visiting team also wrecked the dressing room.

The referee's report records several threats. It says an Uberlândia official threatened to hit him and said he wanted to kill him, and the referee filed a police complaint. Mamoré's president, Marcelo Reis, told Paranaíba Mais that his club has asked for Uberlândia's exclusion from the competition.

Record claim

Guinness World Records lists 36 dismissals in a single match as its mark, set on 27 February 2011 in a match between Claypole and Victoriano Arenas in Argentina's fifth tier. The articles describe the Brazilian count as a probable new world record, but none reports that Guinness has confirmed one.

Guinness record (Feb 2011)36

Uberlândia-Mamoré, per match report51

Guinness record (Feb 2011)

36

Uberlândia-Mamoré, per match report

51

Data from the article text

No follow-up on the club's exclusion request is reported in the articles.