The British Olympic Association are “incredibly positive” an agreement will be reached to pick players from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for the London 2012 football tournaments.

BOA chief executive Andy Hunt is increasingly hopeful that the likes of Wales internationals Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, for the men, and Scotland’s Julie Fleeting, for the women, will get a chance to play for Olympic gold.

But Hunt indicated that failure to secure an agreement could mean the BOA deciding not to enter teams for fear of breaching Olympic anti-discrimination rules.

“I have been at this for over two years,” Hunt told reporters.

“I am incredibly positive that we will get to an outcome where we will field a men’s and a women’s football team. We have got some final things to resolve... but I am incredibly positive.

“More positive than I have ever been before when asked that question.”

The sticking point has been the unwillingness of the Irish, Welsh and Scottish football associations to sanction the selection of their players.

They fear a dilution of power within world football governance – the loss of the FIFA vice-presidency guaranteed to one of the four home associations and their places on the International FA board – as well as pressure to unite permanently as Great Britain.

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