AP reports that Inter Miami forward Luis Suárez has been suspended from the next six Leagues Cup matches after a postgame altercation in which he appeared to spit at a Seattle Sounders staff member and grabbed a player by the neck.
The discipline follows Seattle’s 3-0 win over Miami in the Leagues Cup final.
Tournament officials announced that Suárez, along with several others involved in the confrontation, would be banned and fined.
The suspension applies only to the Leagues Cup, not Major League Soccer games, though MLS officials are reviewing the matter and could impose additional penalties.
The Leagues Cup is a separate competition featuring clubs from MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX.
Suárez’s six-game suspension will keep him out of next year’s Leagues Cup and could extend into future tournaments, depending on how far Inter Miami advances.
The team played six matches this year — three in the group stage and three in knockout play — on its way to the championship match.
Also penalized were Sounders assistant coach Steven Lenhart, who received a five-match ban; Inter Miami defender Tomás Avilés, who was suspended three games; and Miami midfielder Sergio Busquets, who was given a two-match suspension.
All four men were also fined.
Suárez, who has a long history of controversial behavior on the pitch, including three suspensions for biting opponents and a notorious intentional handball in the 2010 World Cup, addressed the incident in a statement Thursday.
“Things happened right after the match that shouldn’t have happened, but that doesn’t justify my reaction. I was wrong and I sincerely regret it,” Suárez wrote. “It’s not the image I want to portray, neither to my family, who are suffering because of my mistakes, nor to my club, which doesn’t deserve to be affected by something like this.”
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