Arya News - Rubiales was convicted of sexual assault in February after kissing a Spanish player without her consent during celebrations at the Women`s World Cup.
Luis Rubiales, the disagraced former Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president who was convicted of sexual assault in February , was attacked with eggs at a book event in Madrid on Thursday. In an added twist, the eggs were thrown by Rubiales" uncle, who is also named Luis Rubiales.
Rubiales was promoting his new book, "Matar a Rubiales," which tells his version of the events of the last two years. Rubiales kissed Spain women"s national team player Jenni Hermoso without her consent during celebrations for the team"s Women"s World Cup win in 2023, in an incident that sparked outrage in Spain, raised questions of sexism throughout the country and led the Spanish women"s national team to boycott international play .
In video footage of the event, Rubiales" uncle appears to pelt him with three eggs, before being restrained and led away by members of the audience. Two of the eggs seemingly found their target.
Rubiales confirmed to Radio Marca that the egg-thrower is his father"s younger brother, saying that he has "always been a troublemaker," via The Athletic . Rubiales added that he ran towards the attacker
"He was carrying eggs and throwing them at me, but I didn’t know what he had in his hands and when I saw him, I thought he had a weapon. So I ran quickly towards him," Rubiales said. "We were lucky that they stopped me. I didn’t know what this man had in his hand, I didn’t know if he had a weapon. ... If I had grabbed him, we would be in a different situation."
Rubiales was found guilty of sexually assaulting Hermoso on Feb. 20 during a highly-visible trial in Spain, with Hermoso testifying that she felt "disrespected" and that the unwanted kiss "stained one of the happiest days of my life."
Though Rubiales eventually eventually resigned as RFEF president three the weeks after the incident, he had repeatedly denied the charges, saying at one point that he was the victim of a witch hunt led by “ feminists." Hermoso has consistently said that the kiss was not consensual.
As part of Rubiales" sentence, the former Spanish soccer chief was fined €10,000 ($10,437.05 USD); he is not allowed to go within 200 meters of Hermoso, and cannot contact her for a year. FIFA had previously banned Rubiales from soccer for three years, though that is set to lapse in 2026.
Rubiales was acquitted of coercion after allegedly trying to pressure Hermoso into saying the kiss was consensual. Three other former members of the federation — Jorge Vilda, the former women"s national team head coach; Albert Luque, the ex-sporting director of the Spanish Football Federation; and the federation"s former marketing chief, Rubén Rivera — were also cleared of coercion.