Johansson sole candidate for UEFA presidency

Current UEFA President Lennart Johansson is the only candidate for the UEFA presidential election in April.

Sole nominee
The 72-year-old Swede, who has been at the helm of European football's governing body since his election in Malta in 1990, was the sole nominee when the deadline for nominees expired on Friday.

Stockholm election
The election for the next four-year term as UEFA President will take place at the XXVI UEFA Ordinary Congress, which will be held in Stockholm on 25 April. Mr Johansson announced late last year that he would be willing to stand for another term.

'Delighted and proud'
In a statement, Mr Johansson said that he was "delighted and proud" to have been asked to serve for another term as UEFA President: "UEFA has come a very long way in recent years, and I believe that we can look forward to this next stage of our development with hope and optimism."

Vision for the future
He added: "I am looking forward to setting out UEFA's vision for the future of European football when our 51 member associations gather for our 2002 Congress in my home town of Stockholm in April.

Unity and solidarity
"UEFA's guiding principles of unity and solidarity remain the cornerstone of our approach and will be the basis of us facing the challenges of the future. I want to play my part over the next four years to help realise these principles and support the growth of our great game in Europe and internationally."