MLS caters to Messi and friends, fails to send a message | OneFootball

New punishments were handed out following the post-game altercations and the League's Cup committee's rulings. Suarez was suspended for 6 Leagues Cup Games for initiating the scrum, putting a player in a headlock, stepping on the foot of the head of security and spitting in his face, which MLS extended to 3 additional MLS games. Busquets was suspended for 2 Leagues Cup games for sucker punching a grappled 20-year-old player.

I am focusing on these suspensions because they are worthless. Both players are most likely going to retire, so the suspensions for next year mean nothing. Avilies, shown above, was suspended for 3 Leagues Cup games next year, but the MLS felt that behavior didn't warrant fines or suspensions.

This was the opportunity for MLS to step in, show some backbone, and clean up unwanted behavior. They could have used Suarez's past incidents, including biting 3 opponents and berated another player with racial slurs, which all led to suspensions. Maybe those suspensions altered his behavior. Has he bit anyone since.

Unfortunately, the answer is yes, this year he bit a teammate, thinking he was an opponent. Apparently, since biting teammates is ok, he served no penalty. Surely this was his first time acting out after a loss. Again, no, earlier this year, he started another post-game altercation without provocation. The MLS found it fitting to suspend Suarez for 3 matches.

In the first match of the 2025 season, Suarez was fined for putting his hands on the neck/head of an opponent after the halftime whistle. That was the season opener, not a cup final, and that seems to be swept under the rug as they are focused on him spitting on a person.

The Sounders, even with a majority of their stars out due to injury or suspensions, beat Miami soundly. No professional athlete likes to lose, but part of being a professional is to accept it. MLS did suspend Suarez for 3 of the 7 remaining games on the MLS schedule for Miami, including the match against the Sounders next week.

Busquets and Aviles (suspended for 3 Leagues Cup games), avoided any additional suspensions. Both threw punches during the scuffle. No fines were given to Miami or the players. The Sounders were clearly on the defensive, having their celebrations turned into a circus.

The Sounders were fined, and one of the staff members was given a ban for the year. With players being choked on the field, one would think it would be reasonable for anyone nearby to intervene. The Miami coach claimed he had no idea what happened, but he claimed the fault was with the Sounders.

Should he be fined or suspended for failing to instil discipline in his team? That seems far more egregious than the Sounders' mental-skills coach attempting to protect his players. Other players, like Maximiliano Falcon, were not punished despite putting a player in a headlock until he was forced off of them.

MLS caters to Lionel Messi and friends

The MLS has sent a message. They don't care if Miami is perceived as villains, and they don't care about maintaining discipline; they want Miami to do well because they are paying a large chunk of his salary. Sorry, fans, if you don't cheer for Miami and buy their pink shirts, MLS doesn't care about you.

There have also been accusations about Messi trash-talking during the game. According to some, he told Pedro de la Vega that he would never play for the Argentinian National Team as long as he was around.

He also told Vargas that he "wasn't sh*t," and that he would never play outside of the MLS. While people would hope that the GOAT wouldn't say such things, trash-talking is a part of sports, and players who have reached the GOAT status in their sport talked a lot of trash.

Mohammed Ali, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, this list goes on, and hopefully de la Vega and Vargas use it as fuel as they eventually leave the MLS to test the waters of a more competitive league, and most likely one with more of a backbone than MLS.

Regrettably, the lack of real punishments fuels those who claim that the MLS is a weak league, and nothing more than a retirement home for past greats looking for a paycheck. The danger is that if the players feel that way, and that the league won't protect them, the league will become more hostile, and players like Messi won't come to the MLS because they will have targets on them and their chances of getting hurt will skyrocket as players take discipline into their own hands.

Maybe FIFA will come in and protect the MLS by banning Suarez from all soccer-related activities since the MLS disciplinary committee is unwilling or unable to do so. They can and have stepped in to dole out punishments in the past, and Suarez has demonstrated time and again that he is an embarrassment to any league that will endure his toddler-like antics. Regardless of his skill, soccer would be better without players like that.