Sports

Video: Referee issues record 51 red card after mass brawl in Under-20 game in Brazil

By Linda Ikeji 5 November 2026, 9:31 am

A football referee has reportedly broken a world record by handing out 51 red cards in a youth football match in Brazil.

43 players and eight playing staff were given their marching orders after a 40-minute brawl between Uberlandia and Mamore in the Minas Gerais U20 second division, which only ended after intervention by military police, according to O Tempo.

According to the referee's report, Sunday's brawl broke out in the 54th minute after Mamoré's Davi taunted the opposition bench during celebrations following the third goal, and Uberlândia goalkeeping coach Paulo Sérgio Dias Dos Santos ran onto the pitch to confront him.

Chairs and stretchers were used as weapons, with the referee’s report claiming even Uberlandia ball boys were seen throwing kicks and punches.

Drosghic Modesto alleges death threats and other threats of violence were made against him by various individuals. A police report was later filed in relation to the threats, the referee's report said.

The match was halted for 40 minutes, and later abandoned.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the previously highest reported number of red cards in one match was 36, shown in an Argentine Primera D game in 2011.

Watch the video below.