MILAN Telecom Italia's (TIM) leading investor Vivendi is facing a rival candidate in the race to fill a vacant seat on the former phone monopoly's board, two sources briefed on the matter said.

French media group Vivendi, which owns a 24% stake in TIM, is sponsoring Luciano Carta, a former chairman at Italian defence group Leonardo, for the position.

But the nomination committee has now also received a proposal for Alessandro Pansa, a former head of Italy's state police who currently chairs Telecom Italia's submarine cable unit Sparkle, to get the job, the sources said.

It was not immediately clear who is sponsoring Pansa.

Vivendi is currently at loggerheads with TIM chief executive Pietro Labriola over his plans to sell the group's landline grid.

TIM's board is scheduled to meet at 1530 GMT to discuss the appointment.

(Writing by Giuseppe Fonte; Editing by Mark Potter)