Platini elected UEFA President

[tetsujin1979]

Platini elected UEFA president

Michel Platini has won the race to become the next UEFA president after
a stunning election victory over Lennart Johansson.

The 51-year-old Frenchman becomes the most powerful man in European
football after he was elected at the UEFA Congress here in Dusseldorf by
27 votes to 23.

He will serve as UEFA president for the next four years and will also be
a FIFA vice-president.

It follows a tense election campaign which descended into bitterness in
the days leading up to the vote.

In his final address to the 52 UEFA member associations, Johansson
launch an angry attack at FIFA president Sepp Blatter who had publicly
backed Platini at the opening of the Congress yesterday.

Johansson said: “I appreciate the FIFA president’s words about what we
have achieved in the 17 years of my presidency but I cannot appreciate
it when the FIFA president interferes in an election process here in
UEFA.

“It’s not the FIFA president, it is you the Congress taking the
decision.”

Johansson also drew attention to his track record during his 17 years in
power, especially in establishing the Champions League.

He added: “I tried to tell you my philosophies through the years and I
have allowed myself to refer to the track record of what we have
established over these years.



“Along with [former UEFA chief executive] Gerd Aigner I am called the
father of the Champions League.

“But I have always protected the small and middle-sized countries in
Europe.

“You should never change a winning team and I think I have been the
coach of a winning team.”

In his speech Platini tried to limit any damage caused by Blatter’s
remarks.

Platini said: “You have the future of European future in your hands. I
have been able to carry out the campaign I wanted and without attacking
my opponent.

“I stand before you with respect, modesty and resolve.”

Platini has tried to appeal to the smaller countries and wants to limit
the number of clubs in the Champions League to a maximum of three from
any one association.

He added: “We must always see to it that the strong help the weaker
ones. Let’s defend the national associations against the interests which
are threatening them.

“It is a game before a product, a sport before a market, a show before a
business.”

[jebus]

Good stuff, reducing the numbers of the Champions League qualifiers from the major European numbers is a good plan, as is the introduction of two extra linesmen for matches

[Kingdom]

While I haven't got both manifesto's in front of me, I do recall comparing them about a month ago and thought Platini would win due to the support he was proposing to give to the smaller associations via European competition.
I think it is very important to start restructuring the Champions Lge. It has always grated on me that the Champions of each country had to qualify for the group stages while a club that finished 3rd was seeded to qualify. Ok, I wasn't looking for every country to have a rep in the champions lge, but for the likes of ourselves to have to go through 3 rounds before qualifying is nonsense.
lets see how it goes.

[eirebhoy]

Good stuff, reducing the numbers of the Champions League qualifiers from the major European numbers is a good plan, as is the introduction of two extra linesmen for matches
This is the man that wanted to ban sliding tackles from football. Is there no sensible people up for the bloody job? :)

[OwlsFan]

About time there was change. 15+ years in control is too long for anyone no matter how good they were.

[John83]

This is the man that wanted to ban sliding tackles from football. Is there no sensible people up for the bloody job? :)
He's also on record as saying that he wants football to be a non-contact sport. I have absolutely no faith in his vision for football, and I'm going to be very wary of any changes coming from UEFA in the next few years.

[pete]

I don't know their manifestos but seriously dodgy when Blatter is publically backing one candidate. Given the manner Blatter was groumed by the FIFA top job does not come as much of a surprise.

I would be surprised if Platini helped the smaller nations as the big ones have too much power anyway and his background is playing for the most powerful clubs.

[Roadend]

Reducing the CL teams is a right laugh. Do Platini think that the G14 teams are just going to stand idly by while he trys that. No chance.

[jebus]

Reducing the CL teams is a right laugh. Do Platini think that the G14 teams are just going to stand idly by while he trys that. No chance.

Well then G14 can **** off and start their petty superleague, watch it crumble as their fans refuse to travel all over Europe on a weekly basis and then they can come crawling back to UEFA and their respective FAs asking for re-entry

[holidaysong]

As long as the reduction of the CL places for larger countries from 4 to 3 actually benefits our own league then it is a good thing. Would it mean one less qualifying round or something?

[Roadend]

Well then G14 can **** off and start their petty superleague, watch it crumble as their fans refuse to travel all over Europe on a weekly basis and then they can come crawling back to UEFA and their respective FAs asking for re-entry

I'm not pro-G14 at all but you know they'll reject the plan all the way, not to mention corporate sponsors who make millions from the CL in its present format.

[Kerry Blue]

I think we'll have to wait and see how things go with Platini. We all know that when it comes to elections there are many proposals and promises but how many are ever emplimented. There are a lot more smaller national leagues in UEFA than there are big ones so promising to give them more of a chance in UEFA competitions was an obvious vote getter. It was a ploy used by Joao Havelange when he went to be elected president of FIFA. He campaigned heavily in Africa and Asia (both with a large number of members) promising to increase the number of places available to them at the World Cup. They increased slightly but this was mostly due to their performances on the football field than anything Havelange did.

[mypost]

As long as the reduction of the CL places for larger countries from 4 to 3 actually benefits our own league then it is a good thing. Would it mean one less qualifying round or something?

Having 3 slots instead of 4 is unliklely to make much difference. Only England, Spain, and Italy are allocated 4 possible CL spots, of which this year, only England got the full amount of teams through to the group stage.

[CollegeTillIDie]

I think if the G14 did start their own superleague and it crumbled and they came crawling back to their parent Leagues you would see them having to start at the bottom of the pile again. I.e. Liverpool , Arsenal , and Chelsea playing in very low level non League football. It would take them many years to get in to the Coca Cola League levels never mind the Premiership.
They wouldn't want to risk that at all. You may see more pre-season tournaments or winterbreak tournaments involving the G14 happening especially in years ending in odd numbers where there are no European Championships and World Cups.

[tetsujin1979]

I think I remember reading that if the G14 did start their own superleague, they, and their players, would be banned from all UEFA and FIFA Competitions, including internationals.

[Kingdom]

Sky SPorts news had a feature on this story this morning. They had comments from Wenger, Ferguson and bizarrely Allardyce, the sum of which amounted to 'he cannot do this, a committee decides this, won;t happen for 4 yrs at least due to sponsorship deals etc.'

Then Allardyce comes on and starts harping on about how taking away a place will ruin the dreams of all clubs chasing 4th place in the league. Ridiculous. What about the likes of the Slovenian champions or the Finnish champions or our champions? How have they felt for the last 15 yrs or so, where they have fcuk all chance of playing one of the big clubs now due to the champions lge?

[Poor Student]

I'm not sure G14 are in all that great a position any more. Bayern Munich recently talked of leaving it and don't seem to share their vision these days. Don't forget Germany the biggest European country of all don't even have 4 places any more. I've seen quotes from him after the election where he suggests he will change the format for the 2009/2010 version of the CL.

A reduction of places for the EPL could actually enhance its entertainment value slightly. It seems Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool slot too comfortably into those top four slots more often than not. One of them would definitely have to lose out. The UEFA Cup might also get a small shot in the arm.

I saw a feature on Johansson recently and he seems a Luddite by all accounts. Doesn't use a mobile phone, computer or even a calculator!

[jebus]

Honestly I'd be in favour of turning the European Cup back into a knockout competition from the start where only the champions take part (think Wenger said he was in favour of this before, but of course Arsenal were champions that year:rolleyes: ). That way the UEFA cup would become a very important competition with the likes of Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Villareal, AC Milan, Roma etc. in competition with a nations Cup Winners (might enhance cup competitions throughout Europe).

And again, if G14 have a problem with this than let them start their own league. UEFA and FIFA would cripple them with sanctions against their players, they would lose the majority of their proper fans and would turn into exhibition teams playing exhibition football, and the thing is is that G14 know this. Do you seriously think that those clubs would hang around their national leagues if this superleague was a viable option? There's money to be had after all