Ermis Sfakiyanudis is chief executive of Annapolis-based eTelemetry Inc., which makes computer gear that helps companies monitor and thwart employees' Internet use while they're on the clock.

He's also a huge soccer fan and the son of Greek immigrants who spent 90 minutes in the office last week streaming the Greece-Nigeria World Cup match on ESPN.com.

The irony isn't lost on him.

"Three games a day, 90 minutes each, minimum. … It becomes a real time-suck," Sfakiyanudis said.

But of Greece's first-ever World Cup win, he added: "It was a pretty good game."

Lost productivity and network difficulties have become bigger issues for employers — especially as more workers watch streaming video and listen to Internet-based music — and the World Cup has been a huge workplace drain.

Sfakiyanudis is among countless people watching the world's biggest sporting event online, in many cases during the workday. Reports have trickled in from all across the globe about workplace productivity taking a dive during the World Cup.

Every World Cup match featuring Serbia's national team costs that country up to $28 million in lost productivity because of absent workers, according to economists contacted by the Associated Press.

South Africa, which is hosting the tournament, sold 1.1 million tickets to the matches, and economists there predict a significant drop in productivity for the monthlong event. In England, research firm Chartered Management Institute predicted as many as 40 percent of the working population will take sick leave to watch that country's team play its matches.

The World Cup isn't as popular in the United States, but the American team's progress still draws a lot of interest. Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a Chicago-based consulting firm, put together a top 10 list of productivity-sapping sports phenomena in the U.S. and ranked the World Cup as fourth. (The top three? The NCAA tournament, NFL fantasy football and the Super Bowl.)

In an unscientific poll on my BaltTech blog, the vast majority of respondents said they were watching World Cup matches on their workplace computers.

"There are a lot of people spending time watching the games," Sfakiyanudis said.