FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — (AP) — Inter Miami forward Luis Suárez has been suspended yet again for on-field antics, this time getting a six-match ban from future Leagues Cup matches in response to his conduct — including spitting at someone — after his team lost Sunday's final to the Seattle Sounders.
Suárez will not be able to play in the tournament next season, and the ban could stretch into future seasons. Inter Miami played six Leagues Cup matches this year — three in the group phase, then three in the knockout stage — on its way to the final.
The ban would not apply to Major League Soccer matches, though it is possible that Suárez could still face sanctioning from that league. The Leagues Cup is a separate competition.
Also suspended for future Leagues Cup matches for their roles in the postgame melee following Seattle's 3-0 win were Sounders coaching staff member Steven Lenhart, who drew a five-match ban; Inter Miami's Tomás Avilés, who got a three-match ban; and Sergio Busquets, banned for two matches.
All four will also be fined.
Suárez had an infamous intentional handball in the 2010 World Cup quarterfinals to take a semifinal spot from Ghana and has served suspensions on three occasions for biting opponents — the most recent of those in 2014, after he chomped down on the shoulder of Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini following a tussle in the penalty area during a World Cup match.
Suárez — a longtime teammate of Inter Miami star Lionel Messi — appeared to spit toward a member of the Sounders' staff and grabbed at least one Seattle player by the neck during a postgame melee. MLS officials are also looking into the matter, and Suárez apologized on Thursday.
“Things happened right after the match that shouldn’t have happened, but that doesn’t justify my reaction. I was wrong and I sincerely regret it,” he wrote. “It’s not the image I want to portray, neither to my family, who are suffering because of my mistakes, nor to my club, which doesn’t deserve to be affected by something like this.”
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