11月1日，24直播网报道，次日清晨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。尽管梅西在上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，然而实际情况却是他无需停赛。这一变故源于美职联长期实施的一项纪律条款，即连续五场比赛未曾被出示黄牌的球员，其累积黄牌数将相应减少。
美国职业足球联赛实施了“优秀行为激励”机制。
在连续五场赛事中，若运动员未遭遇黄牌或红牌警告，亦无额外惩罚，其累积黄牌数量将自动减少一张。值得注意的是，运动员的累积黄牌总数不会降至零以下。所谓的“优良行为激励”至多能够将累积黄牌数归零。在整个美职联常规赛周期内，这一奖励机制最多能够自动触发三次。
Upon accumulating his third yellow card within the season, a player is eligible for a reduction in his tally if he competes in five consecutive matches without incurring any further disciplinary actions, including additional suspensions. Currently, in the MLS regular season, this athlete has two more instances to qualify for the "good conduct bonus." Should this player maintain a clean sheet in the subsequent five matches, without receiving any red or yellow cards or facing further penalties, his yellow card count would decrease by an additional card, dropping from three to two. Consequently, he would retain just one caution and one remaining opportunity for the good conduct reward.
奖励机制中的“优良行为认可”仅在赛事落幕之际方得实施。
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“优良行为激励”条款，两次成功实现了连续五场比赛未领到任何黄牌、红牌或遭受额外纪律制裁的壮举。
经过两次黄牌减免，他的累积黄牌数已下降至两张。尽管在辛辛那提队的比赛中，他获得了本赛季的第五张黄牌，然而按照官方累计标准，他仅有三张黄牌。这一数据表明，他尚未触及累积五张黄牌导致停赛的界限，因此他依然可以参加明天与新英格兰革命的赛事。
Prior to the 2025 season, the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) also implemented a comparable rule. This marks another instance where North American soccer has adopted disciplinary incentive programs to foster ongoing player conduct.