MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Michel Platini was reelected on Tuesday as president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) after standing unopposed.
"This means more to me than you can possibly imagine… I know I can count on you, and you know that you can count on me," Platini said as quoted on the official UEFA website.
In his opening speech to UEFA members, 59-year-old Platini urged European police to help curb the stadium violence that has recently become a burning issue in the world football.
"In recent months, we have all been struck by certain images that I thought were a thing of the past… Nobody wants a repeat of such events. We need tougher stadium bans at European level and — I will say it again — the creation of a European sports police force," Platini said as quoted by the BBC.
Recently, Ukrainian football club Dynamo Kiev was fined $75,000 and had to close part of its stadium for its Europa league march against Everton after crowd trouble during the club's previous match. In 2014, Serbia's match against Albania was abandoned after players and fans became embroiled in violent clashes.
Platini played for the French national team (1976-1987), Saint-Etienne (1979-1982) and Juventus (1982-1987) football clubs. Platini won the Golden Ball (Ballon d'Or) award three times in his career and was chosen as a member of the FIFA Dream Team – a selection of the best players of all time.