Ex-Liverpool striker Luis Suarez hit with six-game ban after spitting incident

Former Liverpool forward Luis Suarez has been suspended for six matches after spitting at a Seattle Sounders staff member following Inter Miami’s 3-0 defeat in the Leagues Cup final.

A melee broke out involving players and staff from both sides shortly after the final whistle.

Suarez grabbed Seattle midfielder Obed Vargas by the neck before his teammate Sergio Busquets struck the Mexico international on the chin.

Moments later, Suarez became embroiled in a confrontation with Sounders director of security Gene Ramirez.

Goalkeeper Oscar Ustari restrained the Uruguayan before he spat in Ramirez’s face.

The Leagues Cup disciplinary committee confirmed Suarez’s six-game suspension will apply to next year’s competition, although Major League Soccer retains the right to impose further sanctions.

Busquets and Tomas Aviles were also banned for two and three matches, while Seattle staff member Steven Lenhart received a five-match suspension.

Suarez later apologised in a statement on Instagram, but the incident adds to a career already marked by controversy.

He has previously served bans for three separate biting incidents, including a 10-match suspension for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic in 2013.

The 38-year-old received a nine-match international ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup.

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

Miami return to MLS action on September 13. The club faces Seattle again on September 16 in Florida.

Suarez and Busquets are out of contract at the end of the season, fuelling speculation that they could retire. They may never serve the suspensions.

At some point, football has to stop enabling Suarez.

His brilliance in front of goal cannot erase a catalogue of disgraceful acts that would have ended most players’ careers long ago.

Each new transgression has been met with leniency disguised as discipline, allowing him to keep returning as if nothing happened.

Football has a duty to protect its reputation and those who play it in good faith.

It has repeatedly tolerated a ‘man’ who disrespects the game’s values. Suarez should have been booted out of the sport years ago.