The Federation Cup, Bangladesh's premier cup competition, on Tuesday will usher into a new system that will see the tournament run for nearly seven months into the footballing season, unlike previous editions which ran for three-four weeks.
 
Previously, the Federation Cup either commenced before or after the Bangladesh Premier League on the basis that players would be able to focus solely on competition at a time but the latest edition will be running simultaneously with the league challenging the participating teams to maintain focus on both competitions at the same time as Fed Cup games would now be played almost every week.
 
The new arrangement is expected to bring more out of the players as well as the coaches as they would have to focus on both the Federation Cup and the league simultaneously. Despite the challenges, foreign and local coaches alike are seemingly happy with the introduction of the new system for the first time since the inception of the Federation Cup in 1980. 
 
"The new long-term format of the Federation Cup goes in line with the idea to avoid injuries and accumulation of fatigue at the early stages of the season and we celebrate this positive idea as we want our players at the peak of their form throughout the year," Bashundhara Kings' Spanish coach Oscar Bruzon told The Daily Star on Monday.
 
Sheikh Jamal DC coach, Maruful Haque deemed the new system as a professional one that will test the man-management skills of the coaches.
 
"I think playing a tournament within the time frame of the league is a professional system where there will be one or two matches every week and it is the sole responsibility of the coaches how they will handle the man-management every week," said country's lone UEFA A licensed coach.
 
"The coaches will then have to decide where to prioritise, the Federation Cup or the league," said Maruful whose side have a Fed Cup fixture on Tuesday and then a league match on Friday.
 
Mohammedan SC coach Shafiqul Islam Manik said, "I believe the new system will have a good impact because everyone will get enough time to prepare their plans for both Fed Cup and league matches.
 
"Previously The teams had less time to think about the tournament matches because of the frequency of the league fixtures," he added.
 
Both Maruful and Manik embraced the new system explaining that it would allow the bench players from the participating teams more match time with two matches in a week.
 
The opening match-day will see three-time winners Sheikh Jamal DC will take on newcomers Azampur FC at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Fight Lt Matiur Rahman Stadium in Munshiganj, while Mohammedan SC will square off against Rahmatganj MFS at Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni Stadium in Gopalganj.