Inter Miami forward Luis Suarez has been handed a three-match suspension in Major League Soccer (MLS) play. This penalty stems from an incident that occurred at the conclusion of last month`s Leagues Cup final, during which Suarez spat at a Seattle Sounders staff member amidst a large altercation between the two teams.
Suarez will miss Miami`s upcoming match against Charlotte FC on Saturday, as well as home games against the Sounders on September 16 and D.C. United on September 20.
Inter Miami received no additional sanctions from MLS. However, Sounders staff member Steven Lenhart had his credentials revoked through the end of the 2025 season and playoffs, with access to be reviewed again before the 2026 season. The Sounders were also fined an undisclosed amount for the “misappropriation of credentials.”
Suarez`s three-match MLS ban comes after he was already hit with a six-match suspension in the Leagues Cup, applicable solely to that competition. His teammates, Tomas Aviles and Sergio Busquets, also received Leagues Cup bans of three and two matches respectively, while Lenhart was suspended for five matches in the same tournament.
The striker apologized for his actions in a statement issued on social media on Thursday, four days after Miami`s 3-0 loss to the Sounders in the Leagues Cup final in Seattle.
“I want to apologize for my behavior when the game ended,” he wrote in part. “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 apologize. It`s not the image I want to give in front of my family, who suffers because of my mistakes, nor in front of my club, who also doesn`t deserve to be affected by something like this.”
Currently, Inter Miami sits in sixth place in the MLS Eastern Conference, though they have three games in hand due to their participation in various international competitions this season. Before competing in the Leagues Cup, they reached the semifinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup and advanced to the round of 16 in the inaugural expanded Club World Cup.
