Michel Platini was re-elected UEFA president unopposed on Tuesday in the presence of Sepp Blatter and Mohamed bin Hammam, who hope to draw on the Frenchman's popularity to sway their FIFA presidency race.
After the UEFA Congress gave Platini a second four-year term heading up European football's governing body, he received a one-minute standing ovation.
''I thought I was young enough not to have emotions, but it's not possible,'' Platini said, his voice breaking.
''The difference this time, is I had a feeling I would win,'' he joked, having defeated Swedish incumbent Lennart Johansson in 2007.
FIFA President Blatter and his challenger bin Hammam watched in the opulent Grand Palais as Platini earned a second mandate by popular demand from Europe's 53 footballing nations.
Bin Hamman said this week he's prepared to strike a deal with Platini to oust Blatter. Blatter, the president since 1998, said on Tuesday his next term will be his last if he's re-elected in June.
Platini's ovation reflected contentment among members of UEFA who will share almost ?500 million ($710 million) in UEFA grants from 2012-16. UEFA announced expected revenues of ?2.32 billion ($3.3 billion) next year, with the four-yearly European Championship being played in Poland and Ukraine.
The UEFA president's achievements in his first term in office include opening up its marquee national team event and Champions League competition to more mid-ranking teams. Euro 2016, which was awarded to his native France last year, will be the first with 24 teams instead of 16.
Platini also restructured the Champions League qualifying rounds to ensure more teams from smaller countries would reach the lucrative group stage.
''I hope I have shown you my ability to assume these responsibilities,'' Platini said in an earlier speech to delegates. ''All the while keeping UEFA's good name where it belongs, close to my heart.''
Platini has also driven through ''financial fair play'' rules to curb clubs' spending on buying and paying players. He has described as ''cheating'' if clubs spend beyond their means chasing success, often threatening their survival.
''This project should enable us to prevent some of our most time-honored clubs from going under because of risky management by an irresponsible few,'' he told delegates.
Platini outlined his manifesto for action through 2015, when the former France captain and coach is expected to be a strong candidate for the FIFA presidency.
He pledged to step up efforts tackling the ''scourges'' of violence in stadiums and match-fixing linked to betting rings.
Last month, Platini visited the state presidents of Serbia and Croatia to warn them that their national teams and clubs face exclusion from UEFA competitions if the countries do not control the rising problem of hooliganism within one year.
''I am sick of the fact that people can't go safely to a stadium,'' Platini said on Tuesday, adding that other countries faced UEFA ultimatums.
Platini said the ''heart of our action (will be) raising the status of national team football, fully implementing financial fair play, combating violence and betting fraud, and putting an end to institutional discrimination.''
He singled out sectarian conflicts at matches in Scotland as a problem that has no place in football.
Also, UEFA plans to have a woman to sit on the current 16-man ruling executive panel in June.
''We must a find a way to break the glass ceiling preventing women from reaching positions of responsibility within our organizations,'' Platini said.
Often describing himself as a football romantic, Platini used his acceptance speech to thank the coaches who teach children to play football: ''These heroes of everyday life, without whom there would never be any Beckenbauers, Cruyffs, Zidanes, Messis ... without whom there would never be any moments of pleasure and of sharing.''
