Platini elected

Michel Platini has been elected as President of UEFA.

Historic vote
The 51-year-old Frenchman was elected by Europe's 52 national football associations at the XXXI Ordinary UEFA Congress in the German city of Dusseldorf on Friday. He received 27 votes, while the incumbent UEFA President Lennart Johansson gained 23 votes, with two votes invalid. Upon his election, Mr Platini proposed that Mr Johansson become UEFA honorary president after 17 years of outstanding service at the helm of European football.

Star player
Michel Platini was born on 21 June 1955, and enjoyed a glittering career as a footballer before moving into the world of football administration and politics. He was the leading star of his era, winning three consecutive European Footballer of the Year awards in 1983, 1984 and 1985.

Club honours
He began his career in France with AS Nancy-Lorraine, making his early name before moving to AS Saint-Etienne in 1979. His major successes at club level followed in Italy with Juventus, where he played from 1982-87, notably lifting the European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1985, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1984 and the UEFA Super Cup the same year, as well as a host of domestic honours. He was the premier marksman in Italy's Serie A in 1983, 1984 and 1985.

EURO success
Glory also came to Mr Platini at national-team level, when he captained France to the UEFA European Championship title on home soil in 1984, leading the way by finishing as top scorer. He took part in three FIFA World Cups, and made a total of 72 appearances for France from 1976-87 – 49 of them as skipper – scoring a record 41 goals.

New roles
Following the end of his playing days, Mr Platini coached his national side from 1988-92, before setting out on a career as a football administrator and politician. He was vice-chairman of the organising committee for the 1998 World Cup in France. Mr Platini has been a member of the UEFA Executive Committee and European member of the FIFA Executive Committee since 2002. He is chairman of the FIFA Technical Development Committee and vice-president of the French Football Federation.

Challenges ahead
The new UEFA President says that, among other things, he will fight to defend the game's values – respect, tolerance, solidarity, freedom - and its gift of protecting and fulfilling people of all ages, as well as preserving football's autonomy and fighting illegal betting and doping.

To view Michel Platini's interview and other reaction from the UEFA Congress, please click here.