Inter Miami forward Luis Suarez handed six-game ban for spitting on staffer

NEW YORK — Inter Miami forward Luis Suarez has been banned for six matches for spitting on a Seattle Sounders staff member after the Leagues Cup final, organisers said on Friday.

The incident occurred during a scuffle that followed the Sounders' title-clinching 3-0 win over the Florida outfit in Seattle last Sunday.

In a statement, the Leagues Cup Organising Committee said it also banned Inter Miami's Sergio Busquets and Tomas Aviles for two and three games, respectively, for violent conduct during the melee. Sounders assistant coach Steven Lenhart was handed a five-game suspension for his role in the fracas, reports Xinhua.

Suarez's punishment means he will miss next year's Leagues Cup in full, and because the group stage guarantees only three games per season, the ban could carry into the 2027 edition.

While the ban will not impact his Major League Soccer availability, the Leagues Cup committee said the MLS "reserves the right to impose further disciplinary actions on the players and coaching staff involved."

It marks the latest in a long list of controversies that have stalked Suarez throughout his 20-year professional career, which has included spells at Liverpool, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, among other clubs.

He has served suspensions on three occasions for biting opponents, including an incident in 2014 in which he clamped down on the shoulder of Italy's Giorgio Chiellini during a World Cup match in Brazil.

Suarez apologised for his latest indiscretion in a social media post on Thursday.

"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," he said.

"I made a mistake and sincerely apologise. It's not the image I want to give in front of my family, that suffers because of my mistakes, in front of my club, that also doesn't deserve seeing themselves affected by something like this."