UEFA kicks off Euro 2012 ticket sales

UEFA on Thursday warned against buying tickets for Euro 2012 from anywhere but its own website, saying fans risked being ripped off and unable to get into games.With only weeks until tickets go on sale for next year's European championships in Poland and Ukraine, football's continental governing body underscored that uefa.com was the only authorised channel."You can only apply for tickets on the official website," UEFA's championships' chief Martin Kallen told reporters in the Polish capital Warsaw.

UEFA president Michel Platini will be unopposed when he stands for re-election in March, European football's governing body said on Thursday.UEFA said on its website that no other candidates had come forward by a statutory three month deadline, which expired at midnight on December 22."As of today, 23 December 2010, only one candidate has been announced: current UEFA president Michel Platini will be seeking a second four-year term of office from 2011 to 2015."The election is due to take place at the UEFA Congress in Paris on March 22, 2011.

French football legend Michel Platini was rushed to hospital in South Africa but medical checks showed no signs of a heart attack, football governing body FIFA said.Platini, 55, president of European football's governing body UEFA since January 2007, complained of feeling unwell while having dinner at Johannesburg's Le Pigalle restaurant in the Sandton business district."He was tired and over-worked. He also has the flu," said close Platini aide William Gaillard. "I have telephoned his secretary, who tells me that he is fine."

French football great Michel Platini announced on Thursday that will stand for re-election as president of European football's governing body UEFA next year.The 54-year-old Platini was first elected to the position in March 2007, when he beat off the challenge of the sitting president Lennart Johansson of Sweden after an at times bitter campaign.

French football great Michel Platini announced on Thursday that will stand for re-election as president of European football's governing body UEFA next year.The 54-year-old Platini was first elected to the position in March 2007, when he beat off the challenge of the sitting president Lennart Johansson of Sweden after an at times bitter campaign.

UEFA President Michel Platini unveiled the official logo and slogan to be used at Euro 2012 at a ceremony here on Monday.The logo is a design of two tulips - one red and one white - featuring the Polish and Ukrainian flags and a football, and the slogan is "Creating History Together."Platini said: "These are two flowers which bloom, I hope that Poland and Ukraine will grow like them."Euro 2012 is the first major football tournament to be awarded to Eastern Europe.

UEFA on Friday ratified the four Ukrainian cities chosen to host the 2012 European championships with the final to take place in Kiev.The four cities - Kiev, Donetsk, Karkov and Lviv - will host games with the final taking place in the capital on July 1, 2012.Ukraine is co-hosting the competition with Poland where games will be held in four venues at Warsaw, Wroclaw, Poznan and Gdansk.UEFA president Michel Platini, giving Ukraine the green light, said: "Around three years ago we entrusted the organisation of the Euro to Poland and Ukraine.

European football's governing body UEFA on Thursday unanimously approved Michel Platini's 'financial fair-play plan' which will require clubs to break even by 2012.UEFA president Platini's initiative will be implemented over the next three years with the cornerstone of the new legislation - the break even requirement - intended to inject fresh financial stability into the way European clubs are managed.Half of Europe's leading clubs currently lose money, and over a fifth face huge deficits.