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LOS ANGELES, United States: Luis Suarez appeared to spit at a staff member of the opposing team during an ugly brawl following Inter Miami’s 3-0 loss to the Seattle Sounders in the Leagues Cup final on Sunday.
Immediately after the final whistle at Lumen Field, veteran Uruguay striker Suarez rushed at 20-year-old Sounders midfielder Obed Vargas and put him in a headlock, sparking a melee involving multiple players and staff from both sides.
Officials scrambled to restore order, but cameras caught Suarez appearing to spit at a Seattle coach as he walked away from Vargas.
Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said afterwards he was too far away to comment on any specific incidents.
“Nobody likes these kinds of actions at the end of a match, but if there’s a reaction, maybe there was provocation,” he said.
Certainly there were multiple scuffles before the trophy ceremony finally got under way, with both teams still in attendance.
Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer took the high road, preferring to focus on the strong collective effort from his team in a victory over a Miami side led by Argentine superstar Lionel Messi.
“Unfortunately that is going to take some of the attention away from a great performance by the Seattle Sounders,” Schmetzer said of the brawl.
“I guess we can take that as a compliment that Miami’s frustrations led to some things happening on the field that shouldn’t happen on the field.
“I’m going to shut that down because that shouldn’t be the story,” said Schmetzer, who added he had a “quiet moment” with Messi on the field after the game.
But Suarez will be under scrutiny for his role.
The 38-year-old’s reputation as one of the game’s arch villians was cemented when he bit Giorgio Chiellini during the 2014 World Cup.
He has also been sanctioned for biting incidents and racist abuse of an opposing player in club play.

LONDON: Premier League champions Liverpool have agreed a deal to sign Alexander Isak from Newcastle United for a British record transfer fee, media reports said Monday.
The Swedish forward is set to join the Reds in a deal worth about £130 million ($176 million), according to reports by The Athletic and The Telegraph, among other outlets.
The Athletic reported that Isak will undergo a medical on Monday before completing a six-year deal with the Merseyside club.
The fee will set a new Premier League transfer record, exceeding the £106 million that Chelsea paid Benfica for Enzo Fernandez in 2023, the reports said.
Isak, 25, scored 23 goals in the Premier League last season — behind only Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah — as Newcastle qualified for the Champions League.
He has been the subject of a protracted and acrimonious transfer saga this summer, training away from the rest of the Newcastle squad after making clear his desire to move to Liverpool.
Newcastle reportedly rejected an initial £110 million bid for Isak earlier this summer.
But the deal edged closer after the Magpies signed German international striker Nick Woltemade on Saturday for a club-record fee reported to be worth up to £69 million.
Isak will become the latest blockbuster acquisition in a lavish summer spending spree by Liverpool, who also brought in German midfielder Florian Wirtz in another massive deal.
The Reds have also signed French attacker Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt, Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen and Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe had hinted for the first time on Friday he might be open to allowing Isak to leave because of the impact a sale would have on Newcastle’s profit and sustainability calculations.
The northeast club were forced to sell Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh last year in order to avoid a points deduction, and a sizeable return on their investment in Isak would ease any Profit and Sustainability Regulations concerns.
Despite the influx of new talent Liverpool have not so far looked like the relentless team that strolled to the Premier League title last season with four games to spare.
But they still top the table with three wins from three after dispatching last year’s runners-up, Arsenal, 1-0 at Anfield on Sunday.
Newcastle sit 17th in the early running after a 0-0 stalemate against Leeds United.