Michel Platini said that he "is in his final term as UEFA president regardless of whether he wins next year's FIFA election," according to Brian Homewood of REUTERS. Platini "declined to talk about his bid for the FIFA presidency in his first news conference since announcing a month ago that he would stand as a candidate to replace Sepp Blatter." When asked if his current term, his third as UEFA president, would be his last, Platini said, "Yes, I'm stopping there. I will either be here for another six months, or another three years." Platini "is seen as the front-runner in the race to replace Blatter who will relinquish his mandate at the Feb. 26 election in Zurich." He said, "I know why you all came and I know what you are interested in hasn't been discussed. I'm sorry for not having been able to reply to your questions. This wasn't the right place" (REUTERS, 8/28). In London, David Conn wrote sources in Monaco close to Platini said that "he remains confident he will have sufficient backing" to win the FIFA election, having held talks with key leaders of the Asian Football Confederation before he declared his candidacy. South Korean honorary FIFA VP Chung Mong-joon, whose family controls Hyundai, has announced that "he will stand" but Platini’s declaration followed talks with Asian Football Confederation President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa and with Kuwait FIFA ExCo Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah, who is seen as a key power-broker in Asia (GUARDIAN, 8/28).
PLATINI PRAISES U.K. FOOTBALL: The BBC reported Platini defended UEFA's decision "to allow Greek side Olympiakos into the Champions League" despite its owner facing match-fixing allegations. He insisted UEFA "was not conflicted by its deputy general secretary being the son of an Olympiakos vice-president and explained that the same charge could be levelled at him having played for Juventus -- a club who have also been the subject of match-fixing allegations in the past." Platini "also spoke glowingly about English clubs' financial success -- something of a departure given the fact that in the past he has raised fears about the growing gap compared to the rest of Europe." He said, "English football has seen great investment and tremendous income -- it has very good partners and British supporters are some of the best in the world and they watch very good football" (BBC, 8/28).
