Platini to bid for UEFA presidency

PARIS - Former France captain Michel Platini announced here on Tuesday he would bid for the presidency of European football`s governing body UEFA at the next elections in 2006.
The 49-year-old former St Etienne and Juventus playmaker said: "I am going to bid for the UEFA presidency in succession to Sweden`s Lennart Johansson. I want to spend time in a controversial world in an attempt to stop the controversy.
"I have sent a letter to UEFA to tell them I will be a candidate."
Platini, also a former coach of the French national team, is already a member of the executive committees of both UEFA and world football`s governing body FIFA.

03/15/2005 14:53 GMT