Nov 14 (Reuters) – Former Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales had eggs thrown at him during a book launch in Madrid on Thursday, an attack he said was carried out by his uncle.

Rubiales, 48, was presenting his new book “Matar a Rubiales” (Killing Rubiales) at the Espacio Eventize media room in Madrid when a man in the audience began hurling eggs.

“It was my uncle, my blood uncle, who is a troublemaker and always has been,” Rubiales told Radio MARCA. “He came in with some eggs and threw them at me, but I didn’t know what he had in his hands, and when I saw him burst in, I thought he was carrying a gun.”

In February, Spain’s High Court found Rubiales guilty of sexual assault for kissing forward Jenni Hermoso without her consent during Spain’s 2023 Women’s World Cup victory celebrations in Sydney.

He was fined more than 10,000 euros ($11,662) and received a three-year ban by world soccer governing body FIFA.

The incident caused a nationwide furore about sexism in Spanish society and women’s football, fuelling momentum for the “Me Too” movement in the country.