Michel Platini confirms he will stand for presidency

Michel Platini says Fifa needs to "turn over a new leaf" after confirming he will be a candidate to be the next president of football's governing body, the BBC reports.

The 60-year-old Uefa president has received indications of support fromfour continental confederations.

Polling for the election takes place on 26 February, with Sepp Blatter standing down following a corruption crisis.

"I weighed up the future of football alongside my own future," former France international Platini said.

Swiss Blatter, 79, has been in charge of Fifa since 1998.

The election will be held in Zurich at an emergency congress attended by the Fifa member associations.
Candidates have until 26 October to be nominated.

Under Platini's presidency, Uefa has seen a number of major developments.

Next year's European Championship will feature more teams than ever, up from 16 to 24. Then in 2020, the tournament will be staged in 13 cities across as many countries.

In club football, the Champions League has grown in popularity, with British broadcaster BT Sport agreeing to pay £900m for exclusive live rights to European football's top club competition from 2015-16.

However, Platini has faced criticism, largely over his support for Qatar's staging of the Fifa World Cup in 2022.