Luis Suarez has been handed a six-game suspension following Inter Miami’s stormy Leagues Cup final defeat to the Seattle Sounders, tournament officials confirmed on Friday.
The 38-year-old striker was punished for spitting at a Sounders official after a melee broke out in Miami’s 3-0 loss.
The suspension applies to next year’s edition of the tournament, though Major League Soccer reserves the right to add further sanctions.Suarez’s Miami teammates Sergio Busquets and Tomas Aviles were also suspended for two and three matches respectively, while Seattle staff member Steven Lenhart received a five-match ban.
The incident flared when Suarez put 20-year-old Obed Vargas in a headlock after the final whistle, sparking clashes between both sides.
Cameras later captured the Uruguayan spitting as he walked away.Suarez apologised on Instagram: “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 episode adds to a long disciplinary history for Suarez, who was banned from the 2014 World Cup for biting Giorgio Chiellini, served earlier suspensions for other biting incidents, and received an eight-game ban in England in 2011 for racially abusing Patrice Evra.
