NYON, Switzerland (AP) — UEFA president Michel Platini is set to be re-elected for another four-year term after being confirmed as the only candidate in next year’s election.

European football’s governing body announced Thursday that no rivals submitted their candidacy by the previous day’s deadline.

The former France captain, who will be formally re-elected at the UEFA Congress in Paris on March 22, ousted long-time incumbent Lennart Johansson in a tight vote in January 2007.

Top of Platini’s agenda has been implementing financial fairplay rules after fearing that spending on buying and paying players by clubs was spiralling out of control.

Platini described the practice of clubs spending beyond their means to chase success as a form of cheating, and feared some would collapse under the weight of debt if banks or wealthy owners withdrew support.

New rules will limit reckless spending and bailouts by wealthy owners from 2012. Clubs who do not comply face exclusion from future Champions League and Europa League competitions.

“We have to help to save the clubs. It’s not just about thinking about the future, you can’t just escape the situation now,” Platini told The Associated Press in a 2009 interview. “Football is beautiful, we have beautiful teams, beautiful players, beautiful atmospheres, but it is a beautiful toy for many people and we should not break this toy.

“We have to take care of the people. Football is football. We can play with two stones if we like, but we also have to take care of business. When we lose popularity, people will leave football.”

Platini was a leading voice in the decision to hold the 2012 European Championship in Ukraine and Poland. Designed to give eastern Europe a bigger role in European football, problems have mounted due to cost overruns and delays in building stadiums.

From 2016, the tournament will have 24 teams rather than 16 under another shake-up Platini has overseen.

In changes to the Champions League, Platini has ensured there are more league champions from smaller countries and fewer clubs from the bigger nations in the group stage.

And Platini rebranded European football’s second-tier club competition from the UEFA Cup to the Europa League in a bid to rejuvenate the competition.