The commission has told the Premier League that from 2007 no one broadcaster should be able to broadcast more than half of the matches, allowing cable groups NTL, Telewest and Irish sports broadcaster Setanta to get a slice of the rights.
But it appears the league is not as keen to open up the sale of the rights and the commission is in the process of drawing up a legal writ detailing why the sale of the rights to one broadcaster would infringe European competition laws.
If the commission is successful, the move will be a major blow to Sky, which fears that subscriber take-up will slow if viewers are given the opportunity to watch Premiership matches on rival networks.
Sky has pledged to reach 8m subscribers by the end of 2005 and currently has 7.8m.
If the rights are shared, Sky, which earns huge profits from its £40-a month sports packages, could be in danger of losing a significant proportion of its £1.6bn TV income.
It is not the first time that the Brussels-based commission has tried to end Sky's monopoly. In 2003, it attempted to influence the sale of rights of the current 2003 to 2006 deal by dividing matches into four packages. However, Sky outbid other broadcasters for every package.
The European Commission and the Football Legaue have been in negotiations over the sale of the 2007 to 2010 match rights for 18 months.
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