An ansatz is presented for a possible non-associative deformation of t
he standard Yang-Mills type gauge theories. An explicit algebraic stru
cture for the deformed gauge symmetry is put forward and the resulting
gauge theory developed. The non-associative deformation is constructe
d in such a way that an apparently associative Lie algebraic structure
is retained module a closure problem for the generators. It is this f
ailure to close which leads to new physics in the model as manifest in
the gauge held kinetic term in the resulting Lagrangian. A possible c
onnection between this model and quantum group gauge theories is also
investigated. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.