The 25-year-old man from China’s eastern city of Suzhou had reportedly stayed up for days’ to watch the opening matches of the 2014 World Cup taking place in Brazil, which is 11 hours behind China.
The matches first started at 6am Chinese local time and he man reportedly refused to sleep for days in order not to miss any of the World Cup action.
The man died following the Netherlands victory over Spain.
He was taken to the People’s Hospital of Xiangcheng where doctors ruled that his death was related to and partly caused by lack of sleep, but according to a report in Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo, doctors would not confirm that his death had been solely caused by lack of sleep.
Chinese doctors have now warned football fans about sacrificing sleep to watch the World Cup, advising that they try not to deprive themselves from sleep to such a dangerous level.
This is not the first time a football fan has paid the ultimate price in the name of watching their favourite sport.
Chinese man Jiang Xiaoshan died from exhaustion after staying up every night to watch the European Cup in 2012.