An English comedian threw money at Sepp Blatter as the president of world football’s governing body prepared to give details of the February 26 presidential election at a press conference.
Blatter, who announced at the start of June that he would be standing down as president of FIFA, was about to address the world’s media in Zurich when Simon Brodkin interrupted proceedings before being hauled away by security staff.
Blatter left the stage and an official from the world governing body revealed that the press conference would be delayed.
Brodkin, better known by his alter-ego Lee Nelson, has a history of performing pranks and interrupted Kanye West’s Glastonbury set last month.
Brodkin also attempted to warm up with Manchester City players ahead of their Barclays Premier League match against Everton at Goodison Park in March 2013.
On Monday Brodkin was heard to say “Sepp, this is for North Korea in 2026” before throwing a wad of banknotes into the air as security guards ushered him away from the stage.
The press conference was delayed as organisers cleaned up the notes and Blatter returned to the stage approximately 10 minutes later.
It was under the guise of another one of his on-stage personas that Brodkin carried out Monday’s stunt, that of ‘footballer’ Jason Bent, and he later took to Twitter to poke more fun at Blatter.
“Excited to be at FIFA meeting Sepp Blatter to secure the £NorthKorea2026 World Cup,” Brodkin posted from hisJason9Bent account.
Londoner Brodkin has been performing for more than a decade and found fame on TV in 2010 with BBC Three’s Lee Nelson’s Well Good Show and Lee Nelson’s Well Funny People three years later.