MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica — For the first time the Caribbean Cup tournament has been scheduled during the FIFA window for international matches where participating countries have the option of calling on their best overseas-based players.

The idea was pursued so that the quality of the competition would improve, and thus enhance the level of play in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) flagship product.

However, like with any new endeavour, there appears to be excruciating ‘teething pains’ associated with the 2014 edition being contested here at the Montego Bay Sports Complex in St James. So harsh has the fixture been that today’s finalists, Trinidad and Tobago, will be playing their fourth game in eight days, while Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz will be playing their fourth inside seven days.

Jamaica’s head coach Winfried Schaefer has called for a change to the next edition, while a few Jamaican players said the time was definitely too short for such a tournament.

And CFU president Gordon Derrick has also conceded to the Jamaica Observer that the format must change going forward, though he was extremely happy with the quality on display for this tournament.

“I think it is going exceptionally well. We are going from a situation where we were not using international dates so countries were not at full strength. The Caribbean Cup is the CFU’s flagship tournament, it is our World Cup, and therefore we want the best players representing the best teams to show what we are made of in the Caribbean, so we have found that the international dates work. That was the first thing I did as president, to make sure that we change that. Having changed it we started having some issues with some of the clubs saying that we need to play two games in the FIFA window, etc. That’s fine, it is a work in progress, so what we will do now is improve on it for the next tournament,” Derrick said.

“No one can argue that the quality of this tournament isn’t probably the best ever because every team had their best players, from the least among the apostles to the top you had good football being on display, so what we need to do now is look at it. We know how the international dates work, how are we going to refine it to make sure that we are not playing so many games, because I don’t care how fit you are or how good you are, you can’t be playing three or four games in seven to 10 days, it can’t happen,” he stressed.

In his post-game press conference, Schaefer said this type of scheduling was not good for players.

“The people who make this tournament they don’t have to run two days in the field, only the players, and without the players we can’t have a tournament. The players are important and it is not correct for the players. I think for the next tournament we have to chamge,” he said.

He said that Martinique was without one of their best players who plays for Hoffenheim in German Bundesliga because the club refused to release him for the tournament mainly due to its harsh scheduling, which would have been two strenuous for the player.

Jamaica’s captain Rodolph Austin said it was definitely too short, though he would be willing to adapt to whatever the authorities throw at them.

“It’s too short, to be honest, and the team with the best squad will win. It’s very hard on the players out there. People wouldn’t imagine because it’s nice to sit and say you are not doing this and that. To play 90-minute games every other day is really tough.

“It is one of those things you have to adapt to as a footballer. If that’s the way they (CFU) are going to run it, then we just have to adapt, but I would recommend it goes for two weeks because the African Cup of Nations is like a month, but to have four games in eight days is really hard.”

For Jobi McAnuff, he was quite blunt in saying that it shouldn’t happen again, even while he understands that it was done to attract the best players available to each country, and the fact that it would enhance the overall quality of the competition.

The 33-year-old Leyton Orient player said he wouldn’t recommend that it be repeated in two years’ time. He explained that not even the frenetic Christmas holiday period in the English Premier League is this gruelling.

But Derrick explained that the CFU can’t change everything in one fell swoop, but they would tweak some things to get it more player-friendly.

“The next thing now is that I have ordered my technical committee to discuss it and come back with a proposal to the executive committee on how we can further tweak it for the next edition, where we can play in the international FIFA dates, but keep it down to maybe two games in the window, maybe home and away, etc,” said the Antiguan.

Derrick added: “If I tell you that I have the solution, I would be lying. We know we have to look at it, the solution will come later, we will discuss it and see how we can improve on it, but we have to bear in mind that it is because of the limited international dates, we are playing a tournament, so a lot of factors that we have to look at, but trust me, we are going to take a serious look at it because I am extremely happy with it, this is the best Caribbean Cup.”

For one Reggae Boy it has been even more traumatic. FC Dallas’ Je-Vaughn Watson represented his club against Seattle in the MLS play-offs last Monday night, before having a private jet fly him to Jamaica through the night for arrival here last Tuesday.

He has played every minute of Jamaica’s three games, and if he plays in the final scheduled for last night, he would be playing in his fifth game in nine days, a schedule that includes an eight-and-a-half- hour flight.

Derrick said that the platform is now set to launch off and that the CFU is excited about it and it is something they can build on.

“The thing about it is that the winner of Tuesday’s game (Jamaica vs Trinidad in the final) goes to the Copa Centennial and that’s humungous, and this is the kind of thing we want to bring to this tournament where the Caribbean Cup means something,” he concluded.