Into what had seemed an almost forgotten story of Luis Rubiales – the former president of the Spanish Football Federation – a new, almost farcical episode suddenly burst. At the launch of his book "Killing Rubiales", where the ex-official set out to tell his side of the high-profile "kiss" scandal with Jenni Hermoso, raw eggs suddenly began flying at him. Later the key detail emerged: the thrower turned out to be not a radical activist or an angry fan, but... Rubiales' own uncle.
The Memoir Launch That Turned Into A Show
The book launch was unfolding in the format typical for such events: a stage, a screen, the author speaking, journalists and cameras. The book "Killing Rubiales" is presented as the confession of a man who, in his own words, was turned into the symbol of a witch-hunt in Spanish football.
And it was at this very moment that completely different emotions burst into the hall. Eggs flew at the former federation head – three in a row. The first missed, the second hit him in the back and then bounced off the screen, and the third Rubiales managed to fend off with his hand when the projectile was already heading for his chest.
He immediately tried to rush into the crowd towards the aggressor, but the people around him and the security managed to hold him back. In the video you can see a figure in a hat and headphones – it is not easy to recognise a person if you do not know him personally. But for Rubiales this was by no means an anonymous stranger.
When The Hooligan Is Your Relative
At first, Spanish media hastily reported that a woman had thrown eggs at the former football boss. However, later a Periodista Digital journalist simply asked Rubiales himself what had happened – and received an unexpected answer: behind the attack stood his own uncle named Luis Ruben, almost his nephew's contemporary.
In his comments, Rubiales called his uncle's act insane and said he saw what happened as a security threat: he admitted that at first he thought the attacker might be armed and rushed into the crowd after him, fearing for his family and the people around. According to him, he noticed a pregnant woman with two small children and became afraid that the situation could spiral out of control.
Now the former federation president is preparing to take his relative to court. In his view, there is no rational explanation for this behaviour other than his uncle's "abnormality". But the Rubiales surname and his family drama have appeared in the media more than once already.
Another Uncle, Even More Accusations
It is remarkable that the figure of Luis Rubiales' uncle had already appeared in the public arena before – and again in an extremely confrontational context. Back then, the main critic was another relative – Juan Rubiales, also an uncle of the former football official.
In interviews, Juan did not mince his words. He described his nephew as a man "eaten up by a thirst for money and luxury". According to him, Rubiales had become obsessed with power, money and sexual pleasures, and took career decisions in an authoritarian manner.
The uncle recalled, as he claimed, a story about a party for which, he said, a meeting with young women of about 18–19 years of age had been paid for out of Federation funds. He stressed that he had never called them prostitutes, but considered such a format absolutely unacceptable, especially for someone in that position and of that age. Juan said that his nephew needed psychological help and "social re-education", calling him authoritarian, sexist, at times displaying racist views, and even "a pathological liar".
If this is indeed about two different uncles – Juan and Luis Ruben – then the family story around Rubiales looks not just conflict-ridden, but almost toxic on both sides.
The Kiss That Turned Triumph Into Disaster
All this family drama did not arise out of thin air. The starting point of the major scandal was August 2023, when the Spanish women's national team won the World Cup, returning from Australia with gold medals.
During the awards ceremony, Luis Rubiales, in front of the whole world, pulled forward forward Jennifer Hermoso and kissed her on the lips. The player later stated that the kiss had taken place without her consent. That became the trigger for a huge wave of public condemnation and protests directed at the federation president.
Rubiales clung to his position for almost a month, but eventually resigned. The court banned him from approaching Hermoso closer than 200 metres and from communicating with her for a year, and also imposed a fine of around 10,000 euros. From that moment on, Rubiales' name has been associated not with football reforms, but with that kiss.
A Book As An Attempt To Rewrite The Script
The book "Killing Rubiales", which went on sale in Spain on Thursday at a price of about 23.90 euros, is conceived as a counter-narrative to the way society sees the former football boss. In the book's blurb it is said that the author considers himself "the victim of the greatest conspiracy in the history of Spanish football" and claims that lies and fabrications were built up against him for years.
The publishers promise "documentary evidence" of Rubiales' innocence and an attempt to show where the supposedly "dirty and false accusations" came from. In other words, the book is not a collection of repentant memoirs, but rather a legal and public defence, an attempt to shift responsibility onto the system, the media and his critics.
The paradox is that it was precisely at the launch of this book, intended to cleanse his reputation, that a new vivid visual image emerged – eggs flying at the author from the hands of his own uncle. And although this time there were no kisses or official reports involved in the scandal, the story of Luis Rubiales has certainly not become any less messy.
