By Andrew Warshaw in Paris
March 22 – It came right at the end of end of his address to the great and good of European football and could easily have been construed as a throwaway line.
But Michel Platini made sure it got a round of applause.
Having dissected the various accomplishments made by his organisation over the last 12 months, the UEFA President threw in arguably the most innovative line of all: that a woman was to take her place on the top table of European football.
Breaking the mould of football administration, Platini, ever the suave charmer and visionary, told delegates that having a woman share responsibilities for the future of the game was a symbolic gesture.
“We must a find a way to break the glass ceiling preventing women from reaching positions of responsibility within our organisations,” said Platini.
“I am committed to moving in this direction….in the coming weeks a woman will be invited to participate in our Executive Committee.
“This is a first but symbolic step but symbols are sometimes key to changing the way we think.”
Earlier in his address to delegates, Platini turned to financial fair play, a subject that has dominated UEFA’s thinking in recent months.
The project, he said, “must protect club football” and safeguard against hazardous financial management.
He reminded delegates that in 2009, European professional clubs had amassed net losses of €1.2 billion.
“Indeed, there is an enormous amount of money in football, but there is in particular an ethical problem as regards the way in which this money is sometimes managed and used,” Platini said.
He also addressed the fight against fan violence and betting fraud and appealed to public and political authorities to help UEFA.
“With the best will in the world, we will never be able to eradicate [these elements] by ourselves,” Platini said.
That is why today we are launching an appeal to heads of state and governments, and to those responsible within European institutions … Sirs, please take the measures that are necessary.”
As the only candidate, Platini was later re-elected as UEFA President by acclamation for another four years.
It was a mere formality but Platini was still moved by the occasion.
“As the grandson of Italian immigrants growing up in a small village in Lorraine, I could never have imagined that one day I would be standing here at the Grand Palais addressing you as the president of UEFA,” he said.
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