Shamed FIFA president Sepp Blatter is showered in fake dollar bills

Englishman Simon Brodkin - whose comedy creations include footballer Jason Bent and Lee Nelson - calmly walked up to Blatter's position behind a table at the front of the stage and placed a wad of pretend US dollars on the table, saying: ‘This is for North Korea 2026’.

He then turned to address the press while Blatter, who later announced he would not stand for another term as FIFA president in the new elections having resigned earlier this year, waved urgently at security guards to take him away.

They duly arrived either side of Brodkin, but before they could remove him he threw a huge bundle of notes into the air, which rained down around the out-going president of football's governing body. 

Brodkin, a renowned comedian, has made his name performing numerous pranks under various alter-ego guises.

Last year he invaded the stage during a Stereo Kicks’ X-Factor performance and attempted to join the England players on their flight to the World Cup in Brazil. Earlier this year he surprised rapper Kanye West at Glastonbury by appearing on stage with him unannounced. 

Blatter was speaking after the date for the vote on his replacement was announced as February 26 next year.

As Blatter took his seat, performer Simon Brodkin rose from a front-row spot to speak and shower the FIFA president with the fake money bills before he was ushered out of the auditorium at FIFA headquarters.

Blatter said he would leave the room because 'we have to clean here first.' 'This has nothing to do with football,' said Blatter, who returned within a few minutes and quipped about the incident.

'I just called my late mother and she said, `Don't worry, it's just a lack of education,'' he said.

Shortly after the stunt, Brodkin tweeted a photo of himself gatecrashing the event from the account @Jason9Bent, with the message: 'Excited to be at FIFA meeting Sepp Blatter to secure the #NorthKorea2026 World Cup."

But the comedian is not new to showing up to events uninvited.

During rapper West's headline set on Glastonbury Saturday, Brodkin appeared on stage as Nelson wearing a T-shirt with 'Lee-Zus' on it before being removed by security.

This was again followed by him posting a photo on his Twitter account, accompanied by the message: 'Some people were saying Kanye shouldn't headline Glastonbury so I thought I'd give him a hand.'

At an earlier executive committee meeting, FIFA set a February 26 election date to replace Blatter.

The incident took place at the first meeting of the world governing body's executive committee since its corruption crisis exploded.

The meeting in Zurich had been called to allocate the date for a special Congress to elect a new president after Blatter's announcement last month that he will step down.

That decision followed mounting pressure on FIFA following a series of arrests, including seven FIFA officials in Zurich, following an FBI investigation and separate probes by Swiss authorities into the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

(dailymail.co.uk)