FILE - The former president of Spain's soccer federation Luis Rubiales passes a police van as he leaves after testifying at the ºÃÉ«tv Court in Madrid, Spain,Sept. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)
FILE - The former president of Spain's soccer federation Luis Rubiales passes a police van as he leaves after testifying at the ºÃÉ«tv Court in Madrid, Spain,Sept. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Luis Rubiales was pelted by eggs thrown by his own uncle when the former head of Spain’s soccer federation was presenting a memoir late Thursday relating his downfall after kissing a player at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Rubiales was seated on a stool on a low stage when he jumped up and spun quickly trying to avoid three eggs hurled his way. One impacted on the back of his dark jacket, and another splattered against a screen behind him as he charged into the small audience.
“A man entered who I later saw was my uncle, who is a troubled man, and always has been,†Rubiales told reporters. “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 he might be carrying a weapon.â€
Spanish police told The Associated Press they arrested the egg thrower. No motive was immediately given for the incident. A video shows a group of men in the audience grabbing the uncle immediately after he launched the eggs and escorting him away.
Rubiales also had a falling out with another uncle, Juan Rubiales, several years ago when Juan was working for him at the federation.
His book “Matar a Rubiales†(Killing Rubiales) is a 500-page version of his professional demise after during the awards ceremony.
According to its publisher, Rubiales says he was the victim of a “conspiracy of different powers of Spanish public life†including the government and “the profitable world of feminism.â€
Rubiales has always denied he kissed Hermoso without her consent. After initially clinging to power amid a national uproar, he stepped down under immense pressure from the government, soccer officials, women players and fans.
Earlier this year he was found for the unsolicited kiss by a Spanish court.
Rubiales, 48, is also probing his 2020 deal to move the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia.
