July 22 – The professional prankster who broke through security to gatecrash Sepp Blatter’s press conference on Monday is to be charged with trespassing by Swiss authorities.
Simon Brodkin, 38, was arrested but released after questioning. “He will be charged for trespassing because he wasn’t allowed to enter the building,” a police spokesman said.
Blatter was forced to briefly halt proceedings after Brodkin – whose stage name is Lee Nelson – walked up to the FIFA president’s seat and showered him with fake money, pictures of which were flashed around the world. Brodkin declared “This is for North Korea 2026” as he performed his stunt while a startled Blatter called for security guards to remove him.
Brodkin, who was wearing a media badge, has appeared in a variety of alter-ego guises. The British comedian is renowned for such antics having almost boarded England’s plane en route to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Blatter, who was forced to leave the room for 10 minutes for the area to be cleared, said on his return: “I just called my late mother and she said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s just a lack of education’.”
Shortly after the stunt, clearly a dig at FIFA’s corruption-tainted image, Brodkin tweeted a photo of himself with the message: ‘Excited to be at FIFA meeting Sepp Blatter to secure the #NorthKorea2026 World Cup.”
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