Twelve candidates have reportedly declared their intention to stand for the UEFA Executive Committee election after the deadline for nominations expired last Saturday.

Malta FA president Norman Darmanin Demajo is among the nominees for the UEFA Exco election, to take place during the XXXV Ordinary UEFA Congress on March 22 in Paris.

Darmanin Demajo’s candidacy was endorsed by the MFA Executive Committee and Council after several clubs wrote to the association encouraging the president to stand for the Exco election.

Joe Mifsud, the former Malta FA president who was unseated by Darmanin Demajo last August after 18 years at the helm, has been a member of the UEFA Executive Committee since 1994.

Dr Mifsud, who was appointed as UEFA’s fifth vice-president in 2009, was believed to be eager to seek another term as a member of the Exco but his defeat at the last Malta FA presidential vote and his long-standing feud with Darmanin Demajo all but shattered his hopes of garnering enough support for his candidacy among clubs and MFA officials.

Darmanin Demajo, whose standing within UEFA was on the rise before his rift with Dr Mifsud precipitated his exit from the MFA in 2000, decided to run for the Exco after receiving over 30 letters of support from local clubs.

Buoyed by the Malta FA Executive Committee’s unanimous vote in favour of his candidacy, Darmanin Demajo officially announced his intention to stand for the UEFA Exco election during the association’s last council meeting.

The candidates for the seven Exco posts – Michel Platini is unopposed for another four-year term as UEFA president – are expected to be announced in the coming days.

A member of UEFA’s media department told The Times this week that the names of the nominees will be read out for the first time during this week’s two-day meeting of the Executive Committee which started yesterday at the European body’s headquarters in Nyon.