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MLS hands Luis Suarez an additional three-game ban for spitting incident
Inter Miami striker Luis Suarez has received an additional three-match ban by Major League Soccer after he spat in the face of a Seattle Sounders staff member during the Leagues Cup final.
The punishment extends the 38-year-old’s suspension to nine games in total.
His first six bans take effect in next year’s Leagues Cup, and the extra sanction applies to domestic MLS fixtures.
The former Liverpool forward will therefore be unavailable when Inter Miami resume their league campaign on September 13.
Suarez will also miss the heated clash with Seattle in Florida three days later.
Suarez, who has bagged 10 goals and 14 assists in 32 appearances this season, will be a massive miss for Inter Miami.
The flashpoint came in the aftermath of Inter Miami’s 3-0 defeat to the Sounders.
A post-match melee saw Suarez grab midfielder Obed Vargas by the throat before Sergio Busquets struck the teenager on the chin.
Moments later, Suarez was restrained by goalkeeper Oscar Ustari as he spat directly at Sounders director of security Gene Ramirez.
The Leagues Cup disciplinary committee confirmed bans for Busquets (two games) and Tomas Aviles (three games).
Meanwhile, Seattle staff member Steven Lenhart received a five-match suspension for his role in the brawl.
The MLS also announced extra punishment for Lenhart. His credential privileges have been revoked for the remainder of the 2025 MLS regular season and post-season.
Lenhart will only be permitted in public seating areas during Seattle Sounders FC home matches.
He cannot be on or near the field of play, nor in or around the locker rooms, or tunnel. The MLS will review his access ahead of the 2026 MLS season.
Suarez has since apologised publicly, but the incident has inevitably drawn comparisons with his chequered disciplinary history.
The Uruguayan, who has scored 38 goals and provided 28 assists in 77 appearances for Inter Miami, was banned for eight matches in 2011 for racially abusing Patrice Evra.
He has also been at the centre of three separate biting offences, including a 10-game suspension for sinking his teeth into Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic in 2013.
He was also given a nine-match international ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup.
With both Suarez and Busquets out of contract at the end of the season, there is growing speculation that the pair may never serve the full terms of their bans.
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