European football's governing body announced Thursday that
no rivals submitted their candidacy by the previous day's deadline.
The former France captain, who will be formally re-elected
at the UEFA Congress in Paris on March 22, ousted longtime incumbent Lennart
Johansson in a tight vote in January 2007.
Top of Platini's agenda has been implementing financial fair
play rules after fearing that spending on buying and paying players by clubs
was spiraling out of control.
Platini described the practice of clubs spending beyond
their means to chase success as a form of cheating, and feared some would
collapse under the weight of debt if banks or wealthy owners withdrew support.
New rules will limit reckless spending and bailouts by
wealthy owners from 2012. Clubs who do not comply face exclusion from future
Champions League and Europa League competitions.
“We have to help to save the clubs. It's not just about
thinking about the future, you can't just escape the situation now,” Platini
told The Associated Press in a 2009 interview. “Football is beautiful, we have
beautiful teams, beautiful players, beautiful atmospheres, but it is a
beautiful toy for many people and we should not break this toy.
“We have to take care of the people. Football is football.
We can play with two stones if we like, but we also have to take care of
business. When we lose popularity, people will leave football.” Platini was a
leading voice in the decision to hold the 2012 European Championship in Ukraine
and Poland. Designed to give Eastern Europe a bigger role in European football,
problems have mounted due to cost overruns and delays in building stadiums.
From 2016, the tournament will have 24 teams rather than 16
under another shake-up Platini has overseen.
In changes to the Champions League, Platini has ensured
there are more league champions from smaller countries and fewer clubs from the
bigger nations in the group stage.
And Platini re-branded European football's second-tier club
competition from the UEFA Cup to the Europa League in a bid to rejuvenate the
competition.
