Inter Miami striker Luis Suarez has been handed an additional three-game suspension for spitting at a member of the Seattle Sounders staff. Following the recent League Cup final defeat on 31 August, the Leagues Cup Disciplinary Committee imposed a six-match ban, applicable solely to future iterations of that tournament.
Now, Major League Soccer has imposed a further three-match ban, meaning Suarez will be unavailable for Inter Miami’s upcoming fixtures against Charlotte FC, DC United, and Seattle in their domestic competition. Miami suffered a 3-0 loss in the League Cup final at Lumen Field in Seattle, igniting a confrontation where Suarez was seen grabbing Sounders midfielder Obed Vargas before spitting at security director Gene Ramirez.
In an Instagram post, Suarez expressed remorse, saying, “It was a moment of much tension and frustration, where just after the game ended, things happened that shouldn’t have happened, but that doesn’t justify my reaction. I made a mistake and sincerely apologise. It’s not the image I want to give in front of my family, who suffer because of my mistakes, and in front of my club, who also don’t deserve to suffer because of something like this.”
The Uruguayan forward has a history of disciplinary issues, having received an eight-match ban from the Football Association in 2011 for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra, alongside three previous bans for biting incidents during his time at Ajax, Uruguay, and Liverpool.