11月1日，24直播网报道，次日早上8时，美职联第33轮赛事中，迈阿密国际队将客场挑战新英格兰革命队。尽管梅西在前一轮比赛中领到了本赛季的第5张黄牌，按照常规他应当停赛一场，然而他实际上将免受停赛处罚。这得益于美职联长期实施的一项纪律规则，即连续五场比赛未曾受到黄牌警告的球员，其黄牌累积数将相应减少。
在美职联中，一项针对“模范行为”的奖励机制已被确立。
在连续五场赛事中，若球员未曾遭遇黄牌或红牌警告，亦未遭受额外纪律处分，其累积的黄牌计数将自动减去一张。值得注意的是，累积黄牌数不会降至零以下，而“优良行为激励”机制至多能够将累积黄牌数归零。在美职联常规赛的整个赛季中，这一激励措施最多能自动激活三次。
In the event that a player accumulates three yellow cards throughout a single season, and manages to participate in five consecutive matches without receiving any additional yellow or red cards, or facing disciplinary penalties, one yellow card will be deducted from their total, reducing it from three to two. Presently, this athlete in the MLS regular season has two chances to activate the "good conduct reward." Should this player continue to avoid any yellow or red cards, as well as any subsequent sanctions, during the subsequent five matches, another yellow card will be subtracted from their tally. At that point, the player will have only one yellow card and one final opportunity for the "good conduct reward."
奖励机制中的“优良表现认可”仅于赛事落幕之际启动实施。
在当前美职联赛季中，阿根廷球星梅西在29场赛事中遭遇了5次黄牌警告。然而，他凭借卓越表现，两次激活了“优良行为奖励”条款，成功实现了连续五场赛事未领取任何黄牌、红牌或遭受额外纪律制裁的纪录。
得益于这两次黄牌减免，他的累积黄牌数量已减少至两张。尽管在与辛辛那提队的比赛中，他领到的黄牌已是本赛季的第5张，但按照官方累计标准，他仅有3张黄牌。这一数据表明，他尚未触碰到累计5张黄牌将导致的停赛界限，因此他仍可参加明日与新英格兰革命队的比赛。
Prior to the 2025 campaign, the United States' National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) adopted a comparable rule. This marks another instance where North American football has implemented disciplinary incentive systems to foster ongoing exemplary conduct among players.