Ex-Manchester United chief executive David Gill set for second UEFA ExCo term

The 59-year-old Englishman is one of 12 candidates for the eight places up for grabs - half of the committee's 16 seats - but his continuing presence at UEFA's top table is almost guaranteed, given his vice-president status at FIFA.

The executive committee election is top of the agenda for the 41st ordinary UEFA congress in Helsinki and Football Association chairman Greg Clarke has spent the last few months campaigning for Gill.

Speaking to reporters on the eve of the congress, Clarke said: "I would never disrespect democracy but when I've visited our partners around Europe I've had very positive feedback about David Gill's experience and what he brings to UEFA and FIFA.

"But it's an election and there are more candidates than there are seats so we've got to work hard and I've been lobbying hard for David in my visits around Europe."

The congress brings together UEFA's 55 member associations and will be chaired for the first time by Aleksander Ceferin, the Slovenian lawyer who was surprisingly elected to replace Michel Platini as president last year.

Whether there will be any surprises in Wednesday's vote looks unlikely as there are a few candidates who can probably be discounted, including Football Association of Wales vice-president Kieran O'Connor.

There are also votes for UEFA's seats on the FIFA council but with two of the candidates dropping out - Russian deputy prime minister Vitaly Mutko and Iceland's Geir Thorsteinsson - there are now only three names in the hat for four positions, which means there will have to be a second election later this year.

Like the seats on UEFA's executive committee, the FIFA positions are four-year terms although German FA president Reinhard Grindel is lined up to serve the rest of Wolfgang Niersbach's term until 2019, after his compatriot was banned from football by FIFA for misconduct related to the 2006 World Cup.

Apart from elections, the congress is also set to approve Ceferin's governance reforms, of which the key measures are a limit of three four-year terms for executive committee members and a rule that they must have active roles in their national associations.

At one point this looked like it might cause Gill a few difficulties, as he will lose his formal position on the FA board in the governance reforms under way in England, but Clarke said he was confident this would no longer be a problem.

It is understood Gill will be given an 'ex officio' role at the FA, effectively having observer status, in order to meet the new governance rules at FIFA and UEFA.

On Ceferin's reform plans, Clarke said: "I'm happy with them - I think Aleksander Ceferin is doing the right things.

"He's a new broom and he stands for transparency and ethics, and he's brought footballers to the centre of UEFA, like (president) Gianni Infantino has at FIFA."