"The choice to be a candidate for UEFA and not for FIFA is not a choice by default" (Michel Platini)

"I thought long and hard," said Michel Platini, president of UEFA (Union of European Football Associations), speaking on the sidelines of the draw for the 2014-15 European Cups in Monaco on 28/08/2014. "But I never managed to convince myself during these months of reflection that I had to go to FIFA [Federation Internationale de Football Association] for these elections. It's as simple as that. The choice to be a candidate for UEFA and not for FIFA is a lot of things, but not a choice by default. It is a choice based on football and passion. I have chosen to follow my heart."

Platini will therefore instead run for a third term as head of the European confederation, a role to which he was elected on 26/01/2007 in Düsseldorf (GER), defeating the incumbent, Lennart Johansson (SWE). He was re-elected by acclamation as the lone candidate in Paris (FRA) on 22/03/2011. The next elections will be held at the next UEFA Congress in Vienna (AUT) in late March 2015.

The UEFA president notified the presidents and general secretaries of the 54 UEFA member associations of his decision during a…