UEFA’S crisis meeting yesterday ended with the European football governing body pledging their full support behind dodgy Michel Platini in his running for Fifa president next year.

The current chief of Uefa is serving a 90-day suspension handed to him by Fifa’s ethics committee for a £1.35 million payment given to him by Sepp Blatter.

And despite a Uefa source claiming that the “big beasts” inside the organisation were unhappy with Platini, he has somehow managed to keep their support for the upcoming election.

Austrian federation president Leo Windtner said: “We got a unified position of Uefa. All nations give their support to Platini.”

During the discussions, in which Platini’s lawyers were present and answered questions, it was agreed that the Frenchman should have the opportunity to clear his name.

“The lawyer expressed the wish of Platini to fight with all instances to clear his name,” Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino said. “And Platini got the support of the executive committee for this to happen — to fight to clear his name.”

Infantino went on to say that Uefa felt that Platini had the “right to a due process and a fair trial and for the opportunity to clear his name,” which they want to happen by the end of November.

But there still seems to be a divide in Uefa, who held an emergency meeting in Switzerland yesterday, with head of the Dutch FA Michael Van Praag being touted as a better alternative. A further meeting has been suggested next week to discuss this.

Platini has retained the Uefa presidency and his wage despite officially being banned from stepping into the governing body’s headquarters, which was confirmed by Infantino, while Fifa replaced Blatter with Issa Hayatou becoming acting president.

Infantino also confirmed that “Platini is already a candidate for the Fifa presidency.”