Platini gets four more years as UEFA president

Michel Platini was re-elected UEFA president unopposed on Tuesday in the presence of Sepp Blatter and Mohamed bin Hammam, who hope to draw on Platini's popularity in their race to head FIFA

After the UEFA Congress gave Platini a second four-year term heading up European football's governing body, he received a one-minute standing ovation.
“I thought I was young enough not to have emotions, but it's not possible,” Platini said, his voice breaking.
“The difference this time, is I had a feeling I would win,” he joked, having defeated Swedish incumbent Lennart Johansson in 2007.
FIFA President Blatter and his challenger Bin Hammam watched as Platini earned a second mandate by popular demand from Europe's 53 footballing nations.
Bin Hamman said this week he's prepared to strike a deal with Platini to oust Blatter. Blatter, the president since 1998, said on Tuesday his next term will be his last if he's re-elected in June.
Platini's achievements in his first term in office include opening up UEFA's marquee European Championship and Champions League competitions to more mid-ranking teams.
Euro 2016, which was awarded to France last year, will be the first with 24 teams instead of 16.
Platini also restructured the Champions League qualifying rounds to ensure more teams from smaller countries would reach the lucrative group stage.
“I hope I have shown you my ability to assume these responsibilities,” Platini said in an earlier speech to delegates. “All the while keeping UEFA's good name where it belongs, close to my heart.”
Platini has also driven through “financial fair play” rules to curb clubs' spending on buying and paying players. He has described as “cheating” if clubs spend beyond their means chasing success, often threatening their survival.
“This project should enable us to prevent some of our most time-honored clubs from going under because of risky management by an irresponsible few,” he told delegates.
Platini outlined his manifesto for action through 2015, when the former France captain is expected to be a strong candidate for the FIFA presidency.
He pledged to step up efforts tackling the “scourges” of violence in stadiums and match-fixing linked to betting rings.
The “heart of our action,” Platini said, would be “raising the status of national team football, fully implementing financial fair play, combating violence and betting fraud, and putting an end to institutional discrimination.”
Platini often describes himself as a football romantic, and used his acceptance speech to thank “these heroes of everyday life, without whom there would never be any Beckenbauers, Cruyffs, Zidanes, Messis … without whom there would never be any moments of pleasure and of sharing.
“I am, of course, talking about the coaches, the volunteers throughout Europe … who transmit the values to our children, who teach them throughout the most beautiful time of their lives.”