MLS Hands Suárez Three-Game Ban After Spitting Incident

According to US media reports, Major League Soccer has suspended Luis Suárez for three matches following the post-final melee that erupted between Inter Miami and the Seattle Sounders after the Leagues Cup decider. Suárez was at the center of the chaos, first putting Obed Vargas in a headlock before cameras caught him shouting at and spitting on Sounders security director Gene Ramirez.

The 38-year-old forward will now miss Miami’s next three fixtures: away at Charlotte FC on September 13, a home rematch against Seattle on September 16, and another home match against DC United on September 20. The sanction adds to those already handed down by the Leagues Cup disciplinary committee, which gave Suárez six games, Sergio Busquets two, and Tomás Áviles three. Yet with both Suárez and Busquets out of contract at the end of the season, it is unclear whether they will serve those tournament suspensions.

Suárez took to Instagram four days after the final to apologize. “It was a moment of great tension and frustration, where right after the match things happened that shouldn’t have happened, but that doesn’t justify the reaction I had. I was wrong and I sincerely regret it,” he wrote.

The league also revoked the credentials of Seattle psychologist Steven Lenhart, a former MLS player, for the remainder of the 2025 season due to his involvement in the brawl. Busquets, however, avoided league sanctions despite being filmed putting his hand in Vargas’ face during the fracas.

For Inter Miami, currently sixth in the Eastern Conference, losing Suárez comes at a crucial stretch as the club pushes for better playoff positioning.