Soccer fans may miss out on the next World Cup on television because the rights may be bought up by pay-TV companies, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) warned yesterday.

The Geneva-based EBU said the chances of everyone being able to watch the next two tournaments would be reduced because of FIFA's sale of the worldwide television rights for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups to the German sports marketing and media group Kirch for £1.8 billion.

"The World Cup is a unique, perfect example of an event for the man on the street and should be available as a whole - all matches should be accessible on free-to-air channels," EBU Secretary General Jean-Bernard Munch said in a statement.

"In 2002, many matches will only be seen by those who can afford pay TV channels." Television rights for France 1998 were sold by FIFA long ago to the mainly public broadcasters which are members of the EBU, ignoring potential revenue from satellite, pay-per-view and cable viewers.

The EBU had bought the rights to the three World Cups from 1990 to 1998.

But in a change of policy, the world soccer body recently invited bids for the world television rights to the next two World Cups.

Meanwhile, the organisation of the 2002 Cup has already begun to crack, with South Korea's acting Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil calling for the number of host cities to be cut.

South Korea will co-host the next tournament with Japan and according to a spokesman for the Prime Minister's office, Kim, while in France for the finals, said a cut in the number of host cities from 10 to six "looked inevitable" due to economic difficulties.

England's bid to host the 2006 finals looks to be gathering momentum, however, as organisers yesterday effectively ruled out Germany's candidacy for the event.

According to campaign director Alec McGivan, intensive lobbying during France '98, the adverse publicity surrounding German hooliganism and the Germans' support of beaten FIFA Presidential candidate Lennart Johansson had swung the balance in England's favour.

It is, he said, now a two-horse race between England and South Africa and while FIFA are intent on taking the World Cup to Africa as soon as possible, McGivan insists the South Africans will be unable to prove they have the necessary organisational capacity or stadia in time to secure the nomination in June 2000.