Hockey is set to return to competitive action after a long coronavirus-induced break as the inaugural President's Cup tournament gets underway at Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium today, marking the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Hockey will roll on the blue turf for the first time since the Shaheed Smriti Hockey tournament in February where Bangladesh Navy won the title. But this time only five teams, not including Navy, are competing in the round-robin format tournament, with the top two teams of the table slated to play the final on November 30.

"Hockey activities remained halted for a long time due to the pandemic even though we arranged two camps. We are now going to hold a tournament with five teams – Bangladesh Air Force, Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Police, BHF Red XI and BHF Green XI, with the latter two teams comprising of players from the ongoing training camp of U-21 national team," Bangladesh Hockey Federation's acting general secretary Mohammad Yousuf said.

Sponsors Bangladesh Air Force Welfare Trust's CEO Syed Fakruddin Karim expressed his satisfaction at being involved with hockey.and said that they would stay with hockey if given the opportunity.

The tournament is being held to also assess the performance of U-21 team.