Luis Suarez sparked an ugly brawl after Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup final defeat after appearing to spit at a member of the Seattle Sounders’ staff.
After a comprehensive 3-0 defeat, the former Liverpool and Barcelona striker, no stranger to controversy, became involved in a heated altercation with Seattle’s Obed Vargas.
A melee involving players and coaches from both teams ensued with Suarez at the centre of the confrontation.
An Attempt to calm the the 38-year-old down was made by his teammate Oscar Ustari, but Suarez’s infamous tempter boiled over when he spat in the face of a member of the Sounders’ backroom team, reported to be their security director Gene Ramirez.
‘I don’t have much to say [about the incidents after the match],’ said Heron’s coach Javier Mascherano said when asked to comment on the fracas.
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‘None of us likes to see this kind of behavior. When there’s a reaction, it usually means there was some provocation.’
The incident soured what was an historic victory for the Sounders who are now the only MLS team to have won all five annual trophies available to clubs in the league.
Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer, when asked for his statement on the controversial ending to a landmark triumph, said: ‘My statement is, unfortunately that is gonna take some of the attention away from what was a great Sounders performance.
‘I can take that as a compliment that their players were frustrated, and frustrations led to some things that shouldn’t happen on the field.
‘But that shouldn’t be the story. I’m gonna shut that down. I’m gonna say that the story is [goalkeeper] Andrew Thomas having a good run of games and winning a Leagues Cup.
‘Pedro [de la Vega] winning his trophy, Alex [Roldan] winning his MVP, Reed Baker-Whiting coming on in tough circumstances, Cristian [Roldan] gutting through … an injury.
‘The story of this game is not what happened after the fact. The story of the game is the Seattle Sounders.’
In a subsequent interview, Schmetzer added: ‘I’ll let the commissioner, I’ll let the people in charge deal with whatever happened at the end of the game.’
Luis Suarez’s biggest controversies
November 2010: Banned for two matches and fined for biting Ottman Bakal
July 2010: Denies Ghana a place in the World Cup semi-finals with a deliberate hanball that prevented a winning goal
December 2011: The FA concluded a seven-day hearing by handing Suarez an eight-match ban and a £40,000 fine for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra
April 2013: Banned for 10 matches after he was caught biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic during a Premier League game
June 2014: Banned for four months after another biting offence during a World Cup group stage match against Italy
Suarez’s stellar playing career has regularly been blighted by disciplinary issues that have resulted in significant bans.
The Uruguayan has been banned on three separate occasions for biting an opponent with the most infamous offence of that nature occurring at the 2014 World Cup.
After sinking his teeth into Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder during a group stage match, Suarez was banned from the rest of the tournament and received an additional four month ban from club and international football.
