Hong Kong soccer fans have been urged to eat fruit and stretch their limbs while glued to the TV during the World Cup as this soccer-crazed city gears up for a month of late night matches.

Hong Kong Health Department on Thursday released guidelines warning fans against sleep deprivation and binge drinking and eating while following the June 9 to July 9 finals from Germany.

Despite its limited space, soccer is one of the favorite pastimes for the 6.9 million people living in this former British colony. A large chunk of one of the city's major parks is devoted to cement soccer pitches. Locals follow European leagues closely.

In anticipation that soccer fever will take off during the World Cup, the Hong Kong is worried that fans will watch the action overly obsessively.

"Sleep deprivation will reduce one's immunity, make people more prone to sickness, accidents and injury, and affect work performance," the government statement said.

The guidelines urged soccer fans to avoid overly fat foods like french fries and eat fruit instead, not to drive while drunk and to stretch while watching matches.

"Fans should maintain a balance between watching matches and normal socializing," one of the guidelines said.

Separately, U.S. company Blue Coat is offering Asian clients technology that can limit the amount of World Cup video footage workers access through the Internet or alternately make the downloads more efficient.

"Even a handful of employees simultaneously accessing streaming video or downloading video clips can saturate an organization's Internet connections, hampering connectivity for business-critical activity," the company said in a statement."

Hong Kong media have cranked up their World Cup coverage, with Cable TV building a set-cum-soccer viewing center, extending more than 20,000 square feet (1,800 square meters) from which it will host the "2006 Cable TV World Cup Carnival" program, a variety show featuring games and standup comedy.

The venue will host more than 500 fans every day free during the monthlong event.

The show is aimed at "relieving pressure" before the matches, Cable TV said in a statement.

Adding to the genuine team loyalties of Hong Kong fans this World Cup is a genuine monetary interest _ this is the first World Cup held since soccer betting was legalized here in 2003.