Comedian Lee Nelson gatecrashed a FIFA conference this afternoon so he could throw a handful of banknotes over Sepp Blatter, the football body’s controversial outgoing President.
Nelson, who made headlines last month (June) when he invaded the stage during Kanye West‘s Glastonbury set, managed to pull off a similar trick in Zurich earlier today. After being showered with cash by Nelson in front of the cameras, Blatter was heard saying “this has nothing to do with football” before exiting the press conference, which was promptly suspended. Check out video footage of the incident tweeted by Sky Sports News below.
Comedian Simon Brodkin crasht Blatters PK. #ssnhd #fifahttps://t.co/pOVrZb6rOA
— Sky Sport News HD (@SkySportNewsHD) July 20, 2015
Nelson – real name Simon Brodkin – has since revealed on Twitter that he carried out the prank in character as “Jason Bent”, a fictional England football player.
Excited to be at FIFA meeting Sepp Blatter to secure the #NorthKorea2026 World Cup. pic.twitter.com/7UV6spP8wc
— Jason Bent (@Jason9Bent) July 20, 2015
Today’s FIFA incident is the latest in a growing list of high-profile pranks from Brodkin. In March 2013 he took to the pitch at Everton’s football ground Goodison Park in an attempt to warm up with Manchester City, a stunt for which he was later arrested. He was also arrested in 2014 for attempting to board a flight to the World Cup in Brazil with the England football squad.
After he invaded the stage during Kanye West’s Glastonbury set, Brodkin told NME that he was simply “helping Kanye out”. The comedian explained: “Quite a lot of people were thinking, ‘I don’t want him to headline’. I thought I’d offer them an alternative. I gave them a second headliner.”