Suarez given 6-game ban for SPITTING at rivaL but it may take years to serve

LUIS SUAREZ has been hit with a six-match ban for spitting at a rival coach.

The former Liverpool striker spat at a Seattle Sounders staff member after Inter Miami lost the Leagues Cup final 3-0 on Sunday.

8 Luis Suarez spat at a Seattle Sounders coach Credit: Refer to Caption

8 The Inter Miami star has been banned for six games Credit: Refer to Caption

8 A brawl broke out after the Leagues Cup final against Seattle Sounders Credit: AP

8 The striker won;t be playing in teh competition for a while Credit: AP

Suarez , 38, could see his ban run across multiple seasons as he has been suspended for six Leagues Cup games.

The suspension will come into action from next season when the 2026 competition starts.

However, if Inter Miami do not reach the semi-finals, then Suarez's ban will run into the 2027 edition and beyond.

The tournament is a maximum of six games as each team plays three games in a league phase before a knockout phase.

Inter Miami would need to make sure they play in either the final or the third-place play-off for the Uruguayan to be available for the following year.

If the team failed to make it out of the league phase, then Suarez would not be able to play in it again until 2028.

The ban does not apply to MLS games but reports have suggested he could be sanctioned by the separate competition.

Suarez was not the only one to be banned following their roles in the melee after the match.

Former Barcelona star Sergio Busquets has been banned for two matches.

The midfielder appeared to throw a punch at Seattle Sounders’ Obed Vargas during the brawl.

Tomas Aviles has also been banned for three matches for Inter Miami.

Sounders coach Steven Lenhart has been banned for five matches.

All four of them have also been fined.

Suarez has already apologised for his actions as he posted on social media on Thursday.

8 He joined Inter Miami in 2024 Credit: AFP

8 He has already apologised for his actions after the final Credit: AFP

He wrote: "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.

"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."

It is not the first time Suarez has been banned for his actions on the pitch.

The striker has a history of shocking on-field brawls, including cases of BITING both Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic and Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini .

Suarez received a 10-game ban for chomping on Ivanovic back in 2013.

His jawing of Chiellini resulted in a four-month suspension from all football-related activity – as well as nine international matches.

He was also banned for eight games in 2011 after being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra .

8 Suarez bit Branislav Ivanovic in 2013 Credit: PA

8 He also took a chomp out of Giorgio Chiellini Credit: AP:Associated Press

Suarez spent three years at Liverpool between 2011 and 2014 during which he won the League Cup .

He left European football after winning multiple titles in Spain with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

The forward joined Nacional in his homeland before moving to Gremio.

In 2024, he made the glamorous switch to Inter Miami in the MLS to reunite with Lionel Messi and Busquets.