Platini succeeded Swede Lennart Johansson as Uefa president

Michel Platini has pledged to make international football a priority after being re-elected unopposed for a second four-year term as president of Uefa.

The 55-year-old Frenchman, who has headed European football's governing body since 2007, also pledged to tackle match-fixing and crowd violence.

Platini said that raising the status of national team football was to be "at the heart" of Uefa's action.

He also promised to carry through financial fair play regulations.

In his acceptance speech at the Uefa conference in Paris, Platini set out a mandate to "raise the status" of international football.

The Frenchman said the financial fair play project "should enable us to prevent some of our most time-honoured clubs from going under because of risky management by an irresponsible few".

He has said that it was "cheating" if clubs spent beyond their means in pursuit of success.

Platini also used the speech, watched by Fifa presidential candidates Sepp Blatter and Mohamed Bin Hammam, to thank "coaches and volunteers throughout Europe", describing them as "the heroes of everyday life".

"Without them there there would never be any Beckenbauers, Cruyffs, Zidanes, or Messis," he added.

He received a one-minute standing ovation from the conference, made up of delegates from Europe's 53 footballing nations.

Platini's term will end in 2015, when he is expected to challenge for the Fifa presidency.

The 55-year-old used his first term in office to open up European competitions to teams from smaller countries.

Euro 2016, which was awarded to France last year, will be the first European Championships to feature 24 national teams instead of 16.

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