Robin Williams trolled Sepp Blatter with “blue balls” joke at 1994 World Cup draw
Robin Williams went head-to-head with former FIFA president Sepp Blatter at the 1994 World Cup draw - and there was only one winner as the legendary comedian delighted the studio audience
Robin Williams got on the nerves of former FIFA president Sepp Blatter to the delight of the amused audience at the memorable 1994 World Cup draw ahead of the United States hosting the tournament.
The iconic late comedian and actor was invited as a special guest to pick out countries from a bowl as the draw for the final tournament took place at the Las Vegas Convention Center – with other guests including Evander Holyfield and Franz Beckenbauer.
Despite there being several star assistants on stage, it was unsurprisingly Williams who stole the show with a series of jokes made at the expense of the controversial Swiss administrator.
The banter started as soon as Williams was introduced to the crowd by Blatter, with the Mrs Doubtfire and Jumanji star deliberately mispronouncing the name of his new acquaintance.
He said after waiting for the applause to quieten down: “Mr Bladder, so nice to meet you after feeling you for so many years.”
Then adding: “Now it is time to pull the blue balls?”
With Blatter hitting back with a bit of banter of his own by saying: “It’s lovely to have you, Robin. Or should I say Mrs Doubtfire?”
Williams said to send the crowd into raptures: “Thank you Mr Bladder.”
Then putting on a latex glove for comedic effect, Williams said when taking out the first ball: “If you turn your head to the side then cough.”
The draw continued with Williams picking teams out of the bowl, with his every move bringing laughter from the crowd as a stern Blatter got on with the job at hand.
CEO of the 1994 World Cup Organizing Committee, Alan Rothenberg, said of the draw to ESPN years later: “FIFA were worried about the progress of the tournament organising.
“Hard as it may to believe now, but the US was fighting to prove its legitimacy soccer-wise, and I was desperate to make sure the draw was a huge success.
Adding: “All I remember is introducing Robin Williams backstage to [dignitaries] from different countries, and with no hesitation he would talk gibberish to them but as if he was fluent in their own native languages.
“One minute he was talking Serb, the next a Baltic language and then Bolivian. When [Williams] referred to Sepp Blatter as an organ he got a huge laugh. I have never seen anyone that quick.”
