Platini to stay as UEFA president

UEFA president Michel Platini will be unopposed when he stands for re-election in March, European football’s governing body has confirmed.

UEFA revealed on its website that no other candidates had put themselves forward by the deadline, which expired at midnight on December 22, three months before the vote at the UEFA Congress in Paris on March 22.

The former France captain and coach became president in 2007 after beating Sweden’s Lennart Johansson in a bitter election contest. “UEFA president Michel Platini will be seeking a second four-year term of office from 2011 to 2015,” stated the governing body.

Since the beginning of his tenure, Platini has overseen some major developments in European football. UEFA will take the European Championships to Ukraine and Poland in 2012, and from 2016, the Euros will be expanded from 16 teams to 24.

The biggest change, which is expected to be implemented over the coming years, will be UEFA’s financial fair play rules. The new regulations, which will limit spending in order to safeguard the future of European clubs, will start to be introduced in 2012.