September 2 – Seattle Sounders beat Inter Miami 3-0 at a sold-out Lumen Field to win the fifth edition of the Leagues Cup but it was another ugly incident involving Luis Suárez, and not the match, that everyone was talking about afterwards.
Goals from Oussama De Rosario, Alex Roldan and homegrown Sounder, Paul Rothrock gave Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer another major trophy to sit alongside his two MLS Cups and Concacaf Champions League.
However, a huge talking point was the behaviour of the Inter Miami players at the final whistle, particularly that of Uruguayan striker Suárez, who is no stranger to controversy.
Suárez, 38, appeared to spit in the face of Seattle assistant team administrator Eduardo Millan, who recoiled as though he’d been struck.
The Uruguayan’s history of objectionable behaviour is extensive and includes biting PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal, Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic, and Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini, as well as racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra. In each case, Suárez received lengthy bans. However, spitting in the face of an opponent merely represents a new low.
Inter Miami head coach Javier Mascherano, a former teammate of Suárez at Barcelona, took the “I didn’t see anything” approach, saying, “I don’t have much to say [about the incidents after the match]. None of us likes to see this kind of behaviour. When there’s a reaction, it usually means there was some provocation.”
According to the competition’s regulations, this spitting would fall under unsportsmanlike conduct and could cost him between one and three matches, which, given how nasty this incident is, seems like a slap on the wrist.
Messi kept his distance as the incident sparked a melee. But his former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets started throwing punches in an embarrassing spectacle of poor sportsmanship that may result in a one-to-six-match ban.
Violent scenes then took place outside the stadium too when fans of both clubs came to blows in a brawl that made headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Both Seattle and Miami qualify for the Concacaf Champions Cup based on winning and reaching the final, respectively.