Inter Miami faces backlash, potential sanctions after postgame brawl with Seattle
Inter Miami, a club hyper aware of its image, known for slick marketing, determined to be the class of MLS with a global brand revolving around iconic co-owner David Beckham and captain Lionel Messi, finds itself in a public relations nightmare this week.
A postgame brawl following Miami’s 3-0 loss to the Seattle Sounders in the Leagues Cup final Sunday night was still making headlines and trending on social media 24 hours after the end of the game.
The images were ugly, as were comments from fans.
Videos and still photos showed Sergio Busquets throwing a punch, Luis Suarez spitting on a Sounders security official, and several other Miami players pushing, shoving, and grabbing Sounders players after the match, which drew a sellout crowd of 69,314 at Lumen Field in Seattle.
Leagues Cup officials are investigating the melee and decisions on possible sanctions are expected in the next day or two.
“Suarez is the worst thing that’s ever happened to Inter Miami,” one fan commented on X. “He’s not only finished as a player, but he’s also tainted the club’s reputation.”
“Shame on Suarez for spitting on one of the assistant coaches,” wrote another fan. “Absolute disgrace and black eye on the team.”
So, what exactly happened after that whistle blew?
An examination of video and photos revealed the following sequence of events:
Tempers flared when Suarez, 38, and Seattle midfielder Obed Vargas, 20, jawed back and forth after the whistle. Suarez then put his arm around the neck of Vargas, who had played tenacious defense and frustrated Messi all game long, and shouted something into his ear.
Sounders defender Yeimar Andrade, 33, approached and separated Suarez and Vargas, who was laughing and celebrating the victory with his teammate Cody Baker, 21, as a seething Suarez looked on.
Busquets, 37, then reached around Baker’s shoulder and punched Vargas’ chin. Vargas fell to the ground. Baker then got in Busquets’ face and the two exchanged words as Inter Miami defender Maxi Falcon grabbed Baker by the neck from behind to pull him away.
By then, several other players from both teams had gotten involved in the fracas. Miami defender Marcelo Weingadt, 25, who did not play in the game, ran over wearing his orange substitute bib and grabbed the Sounders’ Jackson Ragen, 26, around the neck from behind as Seattle assistant coaches Freddy Juarez and Steven Lenhart stepped into the mess.
Busquets grabbed Juarez. Suarez and Lenhart shoved each other.
Miami defender Toto Aviles, 21, wearing his substitute bib, grabbed Ragen before Jon Bell tossed Aviles to the ground.
Then, Suarez moved to another part of the field, where he is seen shouting, stepping on the foot of Sounders head of security Gene Ramirez and spitting on him. Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari stepped in and separated Suarez and Ramirez.
“I saw that there were a bunch of people all around, but I couldn’t tell you what happened,” Ustari said in a postgame interview. “I was with Luis because there was a person who was standing there and didn’t want to leave, and it seemed things were continuing, so I focused on [trying to stop] that.”
Pedro de la Vega, Seattle’s Argentine forward, said he distanced himself from the melee.
“I don’t like that, and I prefer not to participate,” he said. “I was emotional about the win and wanted to enjoy it. I don’t see anything positive about [fighting]. It is unnecessary.”
Forward Osaze De Rosario, who scored one of Seattle’s goals, called the Inter Miami players who participated in the brawl “sore losers” adding that “they really wanted to win this and emotions got to all of us.”
Sounders defender Alex Roldan said: “It’s a final and no one wants to lose. We didn’t do anything to provoke them, and it shouldn’t have happened.”
Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer was congratulated politely by Messi while the scuffle went on behind them.
Schmetzer lamented that the fight would overshadow the Sounders’ impressive victory.
“Unfortunately, that is going to take some attention away from a great Sounders performance,” he said. “I guess we can take that as a compliment that their players were frustrated, and frustrations led to some things that shouldn’t happen on the field.”
Miami coach Javier Mascherano, asked about his players’ postgame behavior, said: “I have nothing to say because I was far away and didn’t see what happened. Nobody likes for there to be these types of actions. Maybe there was provocation, but I don’t know what happened.”
Inter Miami and the Sounders meet again Sept. 16 at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale in an MLS regular-season game.
This story was originally published September 1, 2025 at 10:51 PM.