SOCCER: The English Premier League TV rights auction was under threat last night after European competition officials said they may force further changes to the bidding process.

The league last week announced radically reshaped rights packages in response to the concerns of Brussels regulators. Its tender document increases the number of live games available by 30 per cent to 142, splits main live packages into three, allows joint bids from broadcasters and makes provision for every game to be shown in full five hours after the final whistle.

But the commission has warned the changes may not go far enough. Competition commissioner Mario Monti will make a decision on the tender document before the league's July 11th bid deadline.

An EC insider said while the new rights packages were a "step in the right direction", there were still outstanding issues. "We don't know yet whether there is a real and tangible consumer benefit. We still haven't made our minds up about this issue." A spokesman for the regulator said the process was "all about balancing the consumer benefit with the restrictions that result from joint selling".

Further intervention by the EC could throw the auction into disarray and diminish the prospect of the league matching the £1.6 billion it received from broadcasters under the present deal.  The EC originally objected to selling rights on behalf of all 20 Premier League clubs and to the low number of live games on offer.

It was also concerned that the structure of the package, offering 66 live games, encouraged an auction that locked out terrestrial broadcasters. BSkyB won the live rights with a £1.1 billion bid in the summer of 2000.

The Premier League believes the tender document published last week answers many of these concerns and is confident that the EC will allow it to continue selling TV rights on behalf of all clubs.