According to the latest news, Michel Platini will seek to win his first mandate as UEFA president. The former French star of Juventus Turin announced, earlier yesterday, that he wants to win the UEFA presidential campaign and beat Lennart Johansson. The 76-year old Swede decided to run for another mandate, since no other candidate has been announced.

Michel Platini (51) was one of France's greatest players of all times. He led his country to the 1982 World Cup semifinals and coached his country's national team in the early '90s. He retired from playing & coaching more than a decade ago, and decided to get involved in FIFA and UEFA regulatory commissions. Believing that the game of football must be cured from inside, he proved to be a very active member in both organizations, as a member of their executive committees.

Even if he will have to face a great competition from Lennart Johansson - who has been president of the UEFA from 1990 - Platini seems determined to take over his job. And he would have had even harder times if German ace Franz Beckenbauer would have decided to enter the competition too. Still, the German who took care of this year's edition of the World Cup stated that, if Johansson was not to retire, he will not enter the election process.

The elections will take place in Dusseldorf, next year, on the 25/26th of January. For the moment the two are the only candidates for the UEFA chair. More, it is believed that these are the most important candidates in the January elections, since neither Germany, nor Italy, will appoint a future candidate.