Luis Rubiales was pelted by eggs during his own book launch on Thursday, which is titled "Matar a Rubiales" (Killing Rubiales). Rubiales’ attempt to relaunch his public image descended into complete chaos as he confirmed afterwards it was his own uncle who turned up and hurled eggs at the former Royal Spanish Football Federation president in front of cameras.
The Hermoso scandal haunting Rubiales
Rubiales remains one of the most polarising figures in world football. In February 2025, he was convicted of sexual assault for the now-infamous non-consensual kiss on Jenni Hermoso during the 2023 Women’s World Cup medal ceremony. While he was acquitted of coercion, the ruling cemented his fall from power. "Matar a Rubiales" was marketed as an attempt to offer his unfiltered truth as he continues to claim that he has been wronged by institutions, the media, and politics. Instead, the event ended up revealing just how fractured his world has become, even within his own family.
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Rubiales to take legal action
Those in attendance watched in disbelief as a man stepped forward and launched two eggs directly at Rubiales.
The former official spoke to Periodista Digital about the shocking incident and said, "Now I've found out that it's my blood uncle, his name is Luis Rubén. An uncle who is my age. He threw eggs at me because he's a deranged person, and I can't find a justification for why. We will have to take action against him because I thought he was armed. I went after him because I thought something was going to happen to a family. The lucky thing is that they stopped me. I don't know if he had a weapon or anything. I saw a pregnant woman with two small children. I thought about the children. If I had grabbed him, we would be in a different situation now."
GettyRubiales insists he is innocent
Despite the conviction, Rubiales continues to insist he did nothing criminal. He has since confirmed that he has submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court to clear his name.
“Yes, I have appealed the sentence. When there is a sentence, we all have an obligation to abide by it,” he said in an interview with
"We believe this is not sexual assault, and we have the right to appeal. There was a tremendous, disproportionate modification. It was dubbed ‘non-consensual kissing.’ It has to reach the Supreme Court. There has to be sexual intent in the kiss. We have our arguments to say that there was a wrongful act, but not a crime.”
Rubiales has repeatedly framed the situation as an overreaction borne from political and social agendas.
"It was a mistake, I wasn’t right. From there to everything that’s been blown out of proportion, distorted, taken to the extreme… with certain interests. It’s more than I deserved," he said. "I stand by it. I apologise, I apologise again. As president, I should have been more composed, more professional.
"I saw an immediate move by the far left in this country, with an immediate change of script. Pedro Sanchez needed the support of the separatists to be sworn in [as prime minister], and he had to grant them amnesty. It suited him well to talk about something else. It was a smokescreen. Media outlets that receive significant funding from the league attacked me. I saw that the far left, with their hypocrisy of blowing a minor issue out of proportion… they were clearly after me."
What continues to anger many observers is Rubiales’ refusal to apologise directly to Hermoso. His explanation has only heightened the controversy.
"I’m not apologising to Jenni Hermoso because I asked her and she said: 'Okay'. Jenni and I know that what the ruling says isn’t true," he insisted. "It was a kiss of emotion, with no sexual connotation whatsoever. Jenni was a good friend, she missed a penalty… she helped us a lot in rebuilding the team. Jenni was my friend.
"I spoke to her on the plane. I told her that we should both come forward and say what we’ve said. She refused. It was said that there was pressure, and we requested the video to show that there was no such pressure, but the judge did not deem it appropriate to show the video."