An agreement has been put in place to allow an England team to represent GB at the 2012 Olympics.
Team GB given green light
An agreement has been put in place to allow an England team to represent Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics.
An understanding has been reached between the Football Associations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to turn a blind-eye to the creation of a one-off side.
In return for the co-operation the English FA will not call upon players from outside their regulation.
A letter confirming the proposal has been sent to Fifa, who must ratify the deal before the plans can be taken any further.
It is hoped the disruptive episode, which has dragged on ever since London were awarded the Games in 2005, can now be laid to rest.
Should the proposal suffer no setbacks, Britain would then have a men's and women's U23 side at the 2012 showpiece.
Under Olympic rules only three players aged 24 and over can compete in any one team.
An announcement on the matter is now expected to be made at the Fifa Congress which is being held on 2nd and 3rd June.
SFA head of communications Rob Shorthouse confirmed the proposal to let England go it alone had been put forward to Fifa.
"The four home associations have met. The proposal to let England go it alone has now been put forward to Fifa for their consideration and that will be discussed at the FIFA Congress next week," he said.
Opposition
He insisted however that it will be Team GB "in name only".
Shorthouse added: "The fundamental point to make is the Scottish FA will not be changing its stance on Team GB.
"We're absolutely against the four nations playing in a unified team, so Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland's stance hasn't changed.
"We're acknowledging there's very little we can do to stop them going forward.
"We're acknowledging the fact that England are of a mind to put a team forward for the London 2012 Olympics.
"Our view and the view we will be expressing to the football family around the world is that it's Team GB only in name because Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will not be involved."
A spokesman for the Football Association of Wales added: "Our current position is that we are not interested in taking part because we are keen to maintain our independence in footballing terms and see it as a genuine threat if we were to play with the other associations in an Olympic team.
"We have 100 per cent backing from our fans and supporters in that aspect as far as the Olympics are concerned."
