Darwin Nunez brawled with fans in the stands after an ill-tempered match between Uruguay and Colombia in the Copa America

Darwin Nunez has avoided a Liverpool suspension with the Uruguay forward banned for five international matches for his conduct during their Copa America exit to Colombia last month.

Nunez was caught on several videos in the early hours of Thursday July 11 brawling with Colombia supporters after Uruguay’s 1-0 defeat to Luis Diaz’s side in the semi-final of the tournament in the United States.

At the end of the match a fight appeared to break out in the stands between a number of people, with a shirtless Nunez eventually becoming heavily involved in the scuffle. The Liverpool striker could be seen appearing to strike at a number of Colombia’s followers before he is forcibly restrained in what were shocking post-match images in North Carolina.

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It was suggested at the time that the Reds’ No.9 was stepping in to defend his family as the mass brawl began between both sets of fans and Nunez could later be seen consoling his young son on the pitch after the melee had died down after initially climbing up to the area where his partner, Lorena Manas, was watching the game alongside other supporters. The former Benfica striker was seen scaling the railing after the game to get closer to where the clashes started and he appeared to react angrily before security at the stadium eventually held him back.

In a separate video that emerged from the evening, Nunez could later be seen attempting to hurl a chair towards a number of Colombia fans giving him and his team-mates abuse before it was removed from his hand and he was visibly pulled back by his international colleagues.

Liverpool refused to comment on the ugly scenes at the time but reached out to Nunez to get his version of events before also holding dialogue with Uruguay Football Federation in their efforts to get a full picture of facts.

A statement from the Copa America’s official channels on Wednesday confirmed Nunez will now miss five matches for Uruguay with as many 12 people sanctioned by CONMEBOL, South American football’s governing body. The suspension does not apply to club football, however, meaning the Reds striker is free to continue being involved for Arne Slot’s team.

“Colombian fans in a certain section descended on all our families,” said defender Jose Maria Gimenez at the time. “They they won’t let us speak on the microphone. This is a disaster, our families were in danger. We had to rush into the stands to remove our loved ones with tiny newborn babies.

“It’s a total disaster. There wasn’t a single police officer. They showed up half an hour later. A disaster. And we were there, standing up for ourselves, for our loved ones.”

Ignacio Alonso, the president of the Uruguayan Football Association, said the players had a “natural, instinctive reaction” towards defending their families in quotes carried by ESPN.

Mr Alonso said: “Uruguay’s players had an instinctive, natural reaction, which is to defend the children who were suffering aggressions, their wives, parents, siblings. It is a natural, instinctive reaction that occurred with rationality for what the events that were happening were.

“The main authority of the AUF also referred to the incidents that occurred in the vicinity of the box in which the Uruguayan directors were. We were in a box, where we had some aggressions and we protected some children, opening the place to some children who were afraid and with some crisis, but fundamentally what worries is what happened down on the field, where there was more diligence for repair than for precaution.

“They quickly complied with the evacuation protocol and we were able to resolve it, not without some inconvenience that you all saw.”

In the days that followed CONMEBOL confirmed an investigation had been opened into the crowd violence in a statement that read: “The disciplinary committee of CONMEBOL has opened an investigation to understand the sequence of events and the responsibilities of those involved in the acts of violence that occurred at the end of the match between the national teams of Uruguay and Colombia.

“On the eve of the final of the Copa America, we want to reaffirm and warn that no action will be tolerated that tarnishes the global football celebration, which involves both the players and the fans present in the stadium, and which will be watched by hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide.

“It is unacceptable that an incident like this turns passion into violence. Therefore, no behaviour that harms the sporting competition and the most beautiful spectacle in the world, which belongs to the entire football family, will be tolerated.”