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Suspensions coming for Inter Miami CF
This past weekend Inter Miami CF played in its second Leagues Cup Final looking to be crowned champions of this tournament for the second time after defeating Nashville in 2023 handing Lionel Messi his first title with the club and the first title in club history. The Herons faced the Seattle Sounders in front of 60,000 packed into Lumen Field. The Sounders are notorious for having one of the most passionate fan bases and most difficult stadiums to play at for opposing teams.
Unfortunately this isn't about what happened in the match as the Sounders defeat Miami convincingly with a 3-0 scoreline crowning Seattle as Leagues Cup champions. The focus was taken away from a great final played by Seattle to Miami's post game behavior. Luis Suarez was seen aggressively putting his arm around Obed Vargas following the final whistle which prompted Sergio Busquets to get into the action as well throwing a soft jab at Vargas.
This prompted an all out brawl on the field with Miami players seen doing most of the serious actions like Maxi Falcon holding a Seattle player in a chokehold, Tomas Aviles swinging at Seattle players as well as Marcelo Weigandt in which neither of those players saw the field during play. The worst action comes from Suarez who steps on the foot of a Seattle staff member so that he can't escape him and is clearly seen spitting on the staff member. This was all done in front of 60,000 fans in attendance, everyone viewing on Apple TV and Jorge Mas/David Beckham.
Things got worse as the Miami fans who were chartered by the club to Seattle to watch the final participated in a brawl with Seattle fans outside of Lumen Field. It was an overall bad look for Inter Miami CF as an organization in which Major League Soccer fans will dislike a lot more after this situation as well as a bad look for the league. Members of the media were not the only ones claiming their disgust over Miami's actions but many fans of the club took to social media to express their strong disgust in the actions.
Many fans targeted Jorge Mas as well as David Beckham who earlier this season called for Minnesota fans to show more respect after they hung a banner that said "History over hype" in a match against his team. People are now throwing that back at Beckham asking where was the respect from his team after the final whistle against Seattle. Mas and Beckham have remained silent since the final on Sunday with many of the players refusing to comment on the situation. Head coach Javier Mascherano said he wasn't there so he can't say anything but if there was a reaction then there must've been a provocation.
Poor behavior is not new for Inter Miami CF who give a sense of entitlement with players constantly berating match officials as well as picking fights with opponents. Messi was fined earlier in the season for putting hands on an assistant coach of NYCFC. Many fans feel a sense of favoritism towards Miami in the sense of the rules being loose for them. Orlando City has filed a complaint to the Leagues Cup committee regarding its semifinal against Miami in which they claim the officiating showed favoritism towards Miami which many fans league wide have supported Orlando's claims.
In the quarterfinal of the Leagues Cup, Javier Mascherano received a red card for something as simple as berating the referee because of extra time added to the end of the first half. He then proceeded to sit in the VIP seats of Chase Stadium giving instructions to his assistants via phone as well as giving instructions to his substitutions entering the match. This caused more controversy over his behavior as well as the fact that he was allowed to be so close to the bench and still coach using his phone. In the semifinal against Orlando he was placed in a suite at the top of Chase Stadium due to his red card suspension but was allowed to communicate with his assistants through the phone once again. Fans were outraged that he could still coach while serving the red card suspension as well as outraged that Leagues Cup did not give further punishment for his behavior the previous match breaking the rule of using communication devices to coach after receiving a red card. This furthered the sentiment of favoritism towards Miami with reports also coming out of the final against Seattle that he got into it with someone from the Seattle contingency in the tunnel heading to halftime.
No suspensions have been given just yet but we will and can expect them for several players of Inter Miami CF with Suarez surely set to receive the biggest punishment of them all. The status on the suspensions is that the Leagues Cup committee is still reviewing the situation and is yet to be heard or seen if MLS will follow with punishments for the club as they are one of the top organizers of Leagues Cup. We've seen suspensions in the past be given through the MLS towards players for actions resulting in CONCACAF competitions.
Written by: Daniel Torres
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