Andy Yeung, a marketing official at the association, said the proceeds of Sunday's first leg in Guangzhou and second leg at Hong Kong Stadium on January 9 would go into a relief fund.

'It's the 27th running of the annual Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup and after covering rental costs and everything, all the money generated will go into the fund. We haven't decided yet to which organisation we will give the money because the disaster has just happened. But we hope that many people in Hong Kong and Guangdong will come to the match and help the cause.

'As Hong Kong are defending champions in the Cup, we are hopeful that more people than usual will attend the matches.'

Hong Kong Automobile Association chief executive Andrew Windebank said it was planning to organise an event in which more than $1 million would be raised.

'We're trying to get it together in a very short space of time with 1,000 motorcycles. They would start at various points and arrive at certain destinations like Victoria Park or Chater Road,' he said. 'Each participant would have to donate at least $1,000. We hope to boost the figure beyond $1 million.

'We are just in the initial planning stages. I know that Chater Road is available on January 16, which would give us about two weeks to organise the event and also enough time to publicise it.

'[The catastrophe] is quite mind-numbing,' said Windebank. 'We have excellent contacts with the Sri Lankan Automobile Association. The chief executive is a friend of mine.

'To think of that country being devastated is very sad indeed. It is one of the most beautiful countries on earth.

'The number of people killed there would amount to something like 7,000 deaths in Hong Kong. When you think in those terms, it really drives home the devastation that Sri Lanka has suffered.

'We want to tie in with other sports associations so the central meeting point can see 1,000 bikers, 1,000 runners or 1,000 cyclists making a community-wide effort. We could have different starting points and this would put less pressure on the police and the transport systems.'

The Hong Kong Rugby Football Union is planning a series of activities to help.

Executive director Allan Payne said donations would be sought during the New Year's Day youth tournament at Hong Kong Football Club.

'We have programmes printed on that day and we will invite people to make a donation. We have had offers of help from one of our schools and they will supply some collectors to collect donations from the crowd. We expect to have about 5,000 spectators. That money will go to the Red Cross fund,' he said.

'We hope to raise lots of money. Normally, people are caring and giving. We have a rugby union club social side and they are going to have a quiz night at which money can be raised too.'

The Hong Kong Cricket Association was also making plans.

Danny Lai, its sports executive, said: 'Nothing has been finalised yet because a lot of people have been away during the Christmas holidays. 'The problem is that we don't have any cricket matches this weekend and the next so it is difficult for us, but we do intend to do something about it.'