Platini re-elected UEFA president

Frenchman Michel Platini was re-elected unopposed as president of European football's governing body UEFA today.

The 55-year-old former European Player of the Year will serve a second mandate of four years, having first been elected in 2007 when he took over from the veteran Swedish administrator Lennart Johansson.

Since then his reforms have included the democratisation of the flagship Champions League tournament and new 'financial fair play' rules obliging European clubs to break even.

Platini's second term as head of the Geneva-based UEFA will notably include the 2012 European Championships to be jointly hosted by Poland and Ukraine.

UEFA have on numerous occasions expressed concerns about Ukraine's readiness to co-host the tournament and Platini admitted that UEFA may have erred in awarding the right to host the event to the financially imperilled country.

In contrast to 2007 when he scored a narrow 27 votes to 23 win over the incumbent Johansson, Platini's re-election was a straightforward affair as he had no opposition.

"The weight of responsibility is protecting the game. For me, football is only a game," Platini has said.

"As long as we keep the game, with its passion, we will have won."

Recently tipped by Pele to succeed Sepp Blatter as head of world governing body FIFA, Platini's comfortable re-election in Paris will keep him in pole