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Luis Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish Football Federation who resigned after kissing a player without her consent at the 2023 Women’s World Cup final, was pelted with eggs while on stage promoting his book.
The culprit, who was later arrested by police, was revealed to be Rubiales’ uncle.
Jorge Vilda, head coach of Spain (L), with Luis Rubiales, president of the Spanish Football Association, during the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 Final match between Spain and England at Stadium Australia on August 20, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
The incident was captured on video and showed Rubiales sitting on stage while promoting his 500-page memoir. A man can be seen throwing several eggs in Rubiales’ direction, one of which hits him directly in the back.
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Rubiales attacked the man, but several others stepped in to restrain him.
Spanish police told The Associated Press that the man, identified as Luis Rubén Rubiales, was arrested. No motive was immediately revealed. The suspect was Rubiales’ uncle and a local actor.
“A man came in who I later saw was my uncle, who is a troubled man and always has been,” Rubiales told reporters via the AP. “He had some eggs and threw some at me, but I didn’t know what he had in his hands and when I first saw him I thought maybe he was carrying a weapon.”
The former president of Spain’s soccer federation, Luis Rubiales, sits in a courtroom on the outskirts of Madrid, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, where he is on trial for his unsolicited kiss on striker Jenni Hermoso. (Chema Moya, pool photo via AP, file)
EX-SPANISH FOOTBALL PRESIDENT FINED FOR UNWANTED KISS BY FEMALE PLAYER
In February, Rubiales was found guilty of sexually assaulting Spanish soccer player Jenni Hermoso after he kissed her without her consent after the 2023 Women’s World Cup final. The controversy overshadowed Spain’s title and led to Rubiales’ resignation just weeks later.
Despite prosecutors demanding jail time, Rubiales was ordered to pay a fine and banned from being near or communicating with Hermoso for a year.
A smiling Jennifer Hermoso of Spain with the FIFA Women’s World Cup Winners Trophy after the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 Final match between Spain and England at Stadium Australia on August 20, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)
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The 48-year-old former football manager has denied kissing Hermoso without her consent. According to its publisher, Rubiales says he was the victim of a “conspiracy of various forces in Spanish public life,” including the government and “the profitable world of feminism.”
