And just yards from the embattled Fifa president was the man who made it all happen — Premier League footballer Jason Bent, aka comedian Simon Brodkin.
The married father of two, who is a qualified doctor, instantly became one of the world’s most famous pranksters.
“Jason”, 37, chucked hundreds of dollars at a visibly shocked Blatter, saying: “This is for the North Korea 2026 bid.”
It was the latest in a string of daredevil pranks from the super-confident funnyman, who is best known in the UK for his baseball cap-wearing “chav” character Lee Nelson and has starred in his own series on BBC3.
Last month Simon tangled with egomaniac rapper Kanye West, climbing on stage during West’s performance at Glastonbury Festival. He was wearing a T-shirt reading “Lee-zus” — a dig at West’s album Yeezus.
Today, in a rare and exclusive interview, the Londoner says he simply could not resist targeting Blatter and Fifa.
Over tea at a Soho pub, Simon tells me: “With the corruption allegations flying, I thought most people would be on my side. And it does feel like I’ve got this one right.
“A lot of high-fives and smiles and funny headlines worldwide, like, ‘Qui est Simon Brodkin?’ (‘Who is Simon Brodkin?’) in France’s Le Monde newspaper.
Even the people in Fifa blazers and the Swiss police were smiling! There was a lot of warmth even as I was arrested.
“There would be a real irony if I am the first person to end up in prison over the Fifa corruption allegations.”
Amazingly, Simon — who has been charged with trespassing — did not pre-plan most of the stunt, assuming he would be swiftly bundled out.
He says: “Getting in somewhere is about walking the walk, looking like you belong. It’s amazing what you can get away with. I was sitting trying to look like a journalist and it was like a rollercoaster where you’re slowly going up the ramp and get near the top and don’t know what’s over the edge.
“Then Sepp came in and I thought, ‘Go for it’. I had two large wodges of cash in a bag. I put one bundle down on the desk and said something about North Korea’s bid for 2026.
“And nothing happened! I remember thinking, ‘I’m getting a fair bit of stage time here, normally someone’s carted me off by now’. So I carried on talking.
“Then I saw them coming for me so I showered the rest over Sepp. It had crossed my mind but I never thought it would be doable — and certainly not in the cinematic way it was.
“Sepp just stood there, stunned! Maybe it’s because it was one-dollar notes. Maybe he’s more used to hundred-dollar bills. I reckon that’s the first time he’s ever shied away from money!”
Simon says North Korea is ripe for his style of pranking too.
He says: “If there’s any country least likely to be worthy of great sporting events, it’s North Korea. But I do worry Kim Jong-un will come after me . . . ”
After being led out of the Fifa press conference, Brodkin was arrested and taken to a Zurich police station. But he says cops found his joke hilarious — and even returned the money he threw.
He says: “They were very Swiss about it. They were charming. They did everything they could to get me on the last flight home.
“They even gave me the money back! Fifa may be corrupt but Swiss police definitely aren’t.”
Simon says he has never been hurt or manhandled — because, he believes, he is always courteous to those involved.
He says: “I never intend any of this stuff to be unpleasant.
“I didn’t go up with fist clenched and shout, ‘Oi, Sepp!’ to a 79-year-old man. It’s not done out of malice.”
After getting his confiscated phone back, Simon was flooded with messages from friends and family. Before a stunt, he tells as few people as possible. Even his parents had no idea what he was up to until they saw him on the news.
Simon says: “My dad sent me a text saying ‘Bravo!’ with a little North Korean flag emoji next to it.”
His wife knew but as a mum of two young children, she asked him to come home to help with the kids.
He says: “She says, ‘Off you go. Just make sure you’re back tonight so I don’t have to get up early tomorrow’.”
Simon quit medicine — which he found “exhausting” — to focus on stand-up comedy, getting a helping hand from another former doctor, Harry Hill.
Now his pranks are getting him an even wider audience. Early headlines came when he pretended to shoplift his own DVDs as Lee Nelson, being rugby tackled by a security guard.
And he was arrested in 2013 for invading the pitch while Everton played Man City, dressed as Jason Bent.
But Simon insists his stunts are not motivated by money.
He says: “What’s the point? I don’t know. All I want to do is make people laugh. It’s in my DNA to be mischievous and see what I can get away with.
“On the way back from Zurich, there was a queue for passports and an empty booth for First Class, so I blagged my way through that one. It’s who I am.”
At school, the middle-class son of Jewish parents in North London was frequently thrown out of lessons for clowning around.
Pals even took bets on how long Simon would last in some classes.
While studying medicine at Manchester University, he was chucked out of a gynaecology class after pretending “the intimate parts of a female mannequin were a cash machine”.
He says: “I still have a big passion for physiology, anatomy and helping people.
“But I could never quite get over the funniness of people taking their clothes off just because I’d asked them to.”
Now he is, as Lee Nelson would say, proper famous. And he admits he has other targets in mind.
But as his fame grows, surely it will get harder for him to sneak in under the radar.
Simon, who is performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer, admits: “It hadn’t occurred to me that I might not be able to. Perhaps Sepp Blatter was my retirement act!
“If it was, what a great way to go out.”
His gift of the blag….
SIMON reveals how to blag your way into the most exclusive places – and get away with it.
1. Look the part, act it and be confident. Blagging your way in somewhere is 90 per cent confidence.
2. Practise. I spent years blagging my way into nightclubs, putting on accents, pretending to be different characters.
3. Have a great big pair of balls. Metaphorically.
4. Don’t be too cavalier. Be wary of anyone with a gun. Avoid pranks in China, Russia and North Korea, where the prisons may not be quite as nice.
5. Take a Kit-Kat. You don’t know how long you’re going to be in the cells. I had no idea I’d be arrested at Everton. Lesson learned.
Now I know that if you’re somewhere you’re not meant to be, there is a chance you’ll be arrested.
That seems to be the pattern.
Bent’s bids and bungs
HERE, footie ace Jason Bent answers The Sun’s questions . . .
What do you think of Sepp Blatter?
He’s a man who’s only interested in money, greed and power. I bloody love him.
How much money did you give him on behalf of North Korea?
Six hundred dollars – half the North Korean GDP.
Who asked you to do it?
Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s Great Leader, via my agent.
How did Sepp react to you?
He was completely confused. Apparently he’s only ever known bribes to be wired, not thrown.
How do you think he’s managed to cling on as Fifa president for 15 years?
No idea. He’s like the Arsene Wenger of Switzerland.
How did you react when he resigned?
Gutted. I thought it might put the 2026 bid in jeopardy, in which case I’d lose out on several million quid.
Do you think he should step down straight away rather than waiting until February?
I think the FBI will make that decision.
Who do you think would make a good Fifa president in his place?
Me.
Do you think England should host the 2018 World Cup?
Definitely. As an England player, home advantage means instead of getting knocked out in the group stages we’d have a great chance of getting knocked out in the quarter-finals.
His other pranks
As Jason Bent, he blended in well with England’s 2014 World Cup squad at Luton Airport. He couldn’t have done much worse than the real thing . . .
As Bent, he was arrested after warming up with Man City in 2013 before their game against Everton.
Lee joined boy band Stereo Kicks on last year’s X Factor to sing Michael Jackson’s You Are Not Alone.
He frocked up to Bizarre boss Dan Wootton’s showbiz party this year, to the bemusement of the Sun man.
As Lee Nelson, he interrupted ego-mad rapper Kanye’s headline slot at June’s Glastonbury Festival.