A CONSORTIUM backed bye Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has submitted a bid worth more than $2 billion for the European broadcasting rights for the winter and summer Olympics between 2000 and 2008.

It is the fiercest challenge yet to the European Broadcasting Union, which negotiates collectively on behalf of Europe's public service broadcasters such as RTE and the BBC for broadcast sports rights. Until now the union has always won the contract.

The offer mirrors a bid by NBC, the US network, for the US rights to future Olympic Games and is a further example of the intensifying international battle for television rights to big events such as the Olympics.

Francois Carrard, director-general of the Lausanne-based International Olympic Committee, which owns the rights, said: "I can confirm we have received an offer from News Corporation and it is a serious bid." He declined to discuss numbers because negotiations had already begun for the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002.

The bid, delivered to the IOC on Monday, was signed by Sam Chisholm, who is in charge of all News Corporation Television interests outside the US, as well as being chief executive of British Sky Broadcasting, the UK satellite venture.

Other continental European broadcasters are believed to be involved in the consortium. Its aim would be to show the Olympics on a mixture of subscription channels and terrestrial television networks.

Richard Bunn, controller of sports rights at the Geneva-based EBU said last night: "We expect to continue our good relationship with the IOC." He said Murdoch was only interested in cash and sport as a money business." The EBU members concentrated on providing quality professional coverage and making television sport available to everyone.

The EBU paid $240 million for the European broadcasting rights to this year's summer Olympics in Atlanta so the intervention of Murdoch is likely to drive up the cost of Olympic sports rights in Europe whatever the outcome of the contest. No deal has yet been signed for the European rights for the Olympics in 2000 and beyond.