11月1日，24直播网报道，次日凌晨8时，美职联第33轮赛事即将展开，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本赛季的第5张黄牌，按照常规他本应停赛一场，然而由于美职联长期实行的纪律规则，连续五场比赛未受黄牌警告的球员，其黄牌计数将会相应减少，因此梅西本场的出场并无悬念。
在美职联中，一项名为“优良表现激励措施”的规则得以实施。
在连续五场比赛中，若球员未曾遭遇黄牌或红牌警告，亦未遭受额外惩罚，其累积黄牌数将自动减少一张。重要的是要注意，累积黄牌数不会降至零以下，而“优良表现奖励”至多能使累积黄牌数归零。在整个美职联常规赛赛季中，这一奖励机制最多可以自动触发三次。
In the case where a player accumulates the third yellow card during a single season, they can have it deducted if they participate in five consecutive matches without receiving any further disciplinary action or yellow cards. Presently, this athlete has two opportunities to activate the "good conduct bonus" in the MLS regular season. Should this player manage to stay clear of any red or yellow cards, as well as additional penalties, over the next five games, another yellow card will be subtracted from their total, dropping it from three to two. This would leave the player with just one caution and one final chance to claim the "good conduct bonus."
奖励机制中的“优良表现认可”仅在赛事落幕之后方得实施。
在当前美职联赛季中，阿根廷球星梅西在29场较量中领受五张黄牌警告，然而，他凭借出色的表现两次荣获“模范行为奖励”，成功实现连续五场赛事未曾遭遇黄牌、红牌禁赛或额外纪律制裁。
通过这两次黄牌减免，他的累积黄牌数量已经降低了两张。尽管在辛辛那提的比赛中，他获得了本赛季的第5张黄牌，但根据官方累积数据，他的黄牌总数仅为3张。这表明他尚未触碰到累积5张黄牌导致停赛的界限，因此他仍具备资格，能够在次日与新英格兰革命的比赛中有出场机会。
In anticipation of the 2025 season, the United States' National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) has also adopted a comparable policy. This marks another instance in North American soccer where disciplinary incentives are being employed to foster ongoing exemplary conduct among athletes.