The Fair Play of the year happened in the Liga MX this Sunday in the Pumas UNAM vs Leon Clausura 2022 match. In the 91st minute and with his team losing, midfielder Luis Montes prevented his opponent’s red card.
In a hard-fought game that was 2-1 in favor of Pumas, Leon was struggling to find their game-tying second goal of the match. Both sides were playing with 10-men after a pair of red cards, and the Esmeraldas Verdes were pushing forward as best as possible.
After the referee had given 7 minutes of added time, Pumas was able to take the ball into Leon’s side of the field. Luis Montes then struggled to win the ball against Washington Corozo who then raised his elbow making contact with Leon’s veteran captain.
Instantly, Montes fell to the ground and referee Guillermo Pacheco who was just feet away did not think twice and quickly showed the Pumas player the direct red card. Pacheco thought the elbow went directly into Montes’ face which would have been the right card color.
Montes seeing this while on the ground, quickly got on his feet and explained to the referee that the elbow touched his arm, rather than his face. Upon hearing this, Pacheco took away the yellow and gave Carazo a well-deserved yellow card.
This is something very rarely seen in the world of football, and by doing so, Montes will likely get the Fair Play action of the season in Mexico and beyond!.
