Under-20 match in Brazil ends with 51 red cards, a world record

Fifty-one players and staff were sent off in a single under-20s football match in Brazil, a new world record for red cards. A red card means the player or official must leave the field and cannot take any further part in the game. The previous record was 36.

The match was the first leg of a Minas Gerais Under-20 Championship semi-final between Uberlandia and Mamore, according to BBC Sport. Of the 51 dismissals, 43 were players and eight were coaching staff. The old mark of 36 came in a 2011 game in Argentina's fifth division, between Club Atletico Claypole and Victoriano Arenas.

Three players had already been sent off when the trouble got much worse in the second half. Mamore's Davi celebrated a goal that made it 3-1 by taunting the Uberlandia bench. Uberlandia's goalkeeping coach, Paulo Sergio Dias Dos Santos, ran onto the pitch to confront him. A brawl followed, with more players and staff sent off.

Referee Fernando Patrick Drosghic Modesto stopped the game and it was held up for about 40 minutes. He then abandoned it. Military police were called to the Parque do Sabia Stadium because of the damage. A police report listed 14 broken doors, damaged shower facilities, broken windows, and destroyed benches, tables and chairs.

Globo Esporte's report gave the breakdown by club: 22 of those dismissed were from Uberlandia and 29 were from Mamore.

Because the abandonment left Mamore with only seven players available, Uberlandia conceded the second leg. The club called this a "gesture of fair play". Mamore go through to the final. Uberlandia will play in the third-place match instead.

For a casual fan, the numbers are hard to picture. Eleven players is a full team on the pitch, so 51 dismissals means the whole match was played by people who were never supposed to be there at the same time. The clubs' own explanation leaves the on-field behaviour to one moment, a goal celebration that turned into a fight that spread from the pitch to the stands and the dressing rooms.

What happens next in the Minas Gerais competition is a matter for the football authorities. For now, the record books have a new entry, and a stadium has a repair bill.