Luis Suárez has been suspended for six matches following his conduct in Inter Miami’s stormy Leagues Cup final defeat to the Seattle Sounders, tournament disciplinary chiefs announced on Friday.
The 38-year-old former Liverpool and Barcelona striker was cited for spitting at a Sounders official amid chaotic scenes after Miami’s 3-0 loss. His punishment will apply to next year’s edition of the competition, though Major League Soccer has left open the option of further sanctions.
Two of Suárez’s teammates, Sergio Busquets and Tomás Avilés, were also disciplined, receiving bans of two and three games respectively. Seattle staff member Steven Lenhart was suspended for five matches.
The melee erupted moments after the final whistle when Suárez confronted 20-year-old Sounders midfielder Obed Vargas, grabbing him in a headlock. Television cameras later captured the Uruguayan spitting at a Seattle security official as he walked away.
Suárez apologised in an Instagram post on Thursday, writing: “It was a moment of great tension and frustration… But that doesn’t justify the reaction I had. I was wrong and I sincerely regret it.”
The incident adds to a chequered disciplinary record. Suárez was banned from the 2014 World Cup for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini, had previously been suspended for two other biting offences in club football, and in 2011 served an eight-game ban for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra. He also drew global controversy in 2010 for a deliberate handball that denied Ghana a late winner in the World Cup quarter-final.
