It was a rule established for the 1997 Rio-São Paulo tournament. The regulation provided that after the 15th foul committed by a team, the next infraction would be penalized with a direct free kick (and this was repeated for each infraction). This rule generated a lot of controversy, because although the idea was to reduce the number of fouls during the match, the players started to act more seeking to mark the foul, not to mention that it made life easier for specialists in this type of move. It only lasted that year of 97.