Inter Miami star Luis Suarez's legacy tarnished by biting, spitting incidents during his career

Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald on Sep 4, 2025

Published in Soccer

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

MIAMI — Ugly images of Inter Miami star Luis Suarez grabbing a Seattle Sounders player by the neck and spitting on a Sounders security officer during a postgame brawl Sunday night were reminiscent of incidents earlier in his career that have stained his legacy.

The 38-year-old Uruguayan icon, one of the greatest strikers in history with more than 500 goals for club and country, has been banned on three occasions for biting opponents during matches.

The most memorable biting incident occurred during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, when Suarez bit Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini on the shoulder. He was banned for four months from all soccer-related activities for Uruguay and FC Barcelona, including training, and had to miss nine international matches.

A year earlier, while a star with Liverpool in the English Premier League, he received a 10-game ban after biting the forearm of Chelsea fullback Branislav Ivanovic.

He was also banned for eight games in 2011 after being found guilty of a racist slur against Manchester United’s Patrice Evra, a charge he vehemently denied at the time and since.

In 2010, while playing for Ajax in the Netherlands, Suarez bit the shoulder of Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal and was handed a seven-game ban by the Dutch football federation.

Suarez has remained a fiery player since he joined Inter Miami in January 2024 and argues with referees regularly, but had avoided a serious infraction until Sunday.

Inter Miami lost the Leagues Cup final, 3-0, to the Sounders in front of a crowd of 70,000 at Lumen Field in Seattle and Suarez, clearly frustrated, grabbed Seattle midfielder Obed Vargas immediately after the game. A brawl escalated from there.

Leagues Cup organizers are investigating the incidents and an announcement on possible sanctions is expected sometime this week. Sergio Busquets, Maxi Falcon, Tomas Aviles and Marcelo Weigandt were among other Miami players involved.

These incidents have tarnished Suarez’s reputation as one of the most gifted players of his generation.

Suarez, a native of Salto, Uruguay, is nicknamed “El Pistolero” (”The Gunman”). He has won two European Golden Shoes, an Eredivisie Golden Boot, a Premier League Golden Boot and a Pichichi Trophy. He ranks fourth for the all-time South American men’s top goalscorers in international football (69), only trailing Pelé (77), Neymar (79) and Lionel Messi (112).

He rose to fame in Europe when he signed with Dutch club Ajax in 2007. He scored 81 goals in 110 games for Ajax and then moved to the English Premier League, where Liverpool bought him for $29 million. He scored 69 goals in 110 games with Liverpool and left for Barcelona.

He and Messi quickly became a dynamic duo and Suarez scored 198 goals in six seasons for the Spanish club. He won four La Liga titles, a European Golden Shoe and a Champions League trophy with Barcelona. Suárez left Barcelona in the summer of 2020.

He joined Spanish club Atlético Madrid, and critics said his game was on the decline. He responded by scoring 21 goals in 32 games and was a big reason Atlético won its first La Liga title in seven years. He went on to play in Brazil for Gremio before signing with Miami.

Last season, he was an MLS Golden Boot finalist with 21 goals and nine assists in 30 games. This season, he has struggled to find the back of the net with just six MLS goals in 21 starts but has 11 assists. He scored three goals and had three assists in the Leagues Cup and one goal and one assist in the Club World Cup.

Suarez has been playing professionally for 20 years and learned to drown out the noise from critics dating to his debut as an 18-year-old with Uruguayan club Nacional. He said he never lost confidence, even when he went scoreless for long stretches.

“First of all, you can’t pay attention to what people say, especially at my age,” he said during a recent interview. “Critics don’t bother me. There are many players who let criticism bother them, and that’s bad for you, your teammates and people around you. You have to surround yourself with people who transmit positivity and support.”

He insisted he doesn’t obsess over errant shots or missed scoring chances.

“In my debut with Nacional in 2005, the team missed 11 scoring chances and eight of those were mine,” he said. “I was 18 years old. Imagine, if I let that get me down, I wouldn’t have gotten to where I am today. I never listen to the critics. And, I don’t buy when people say marvelous things about me, either.

“I just work hard and always try to do the best I can.”