Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) officials expressed hope of winning gold medals from cricket and football events in the upcoming South Asian Games following a meeting with officials of eight disciplines – cricket, football, volleyball, handball, basketball, kabaddi, rugby and hockey -- at the BOA office on Sunday.

Both Bangladesh men's and women's cricket teams delivered gold medals in the last SA Games in Nepal six years ago while the men's football team won a bronze medal. However, the women's team failed to win any medal.

The 14th edition of the regional multi-sports games is scheduled to take place from January 23 to January 31 across three cities of Pakistan.

"After a meeting with individual disciplines, today we sat with team disciplines to know about their current states, requirements and expectations. The officials of all eight disciplines have promised to deliver medals. We believe cricket and football can deliver gold medals due to their standard," BOA's training committee secretary AK Sarkar told The Daily Star after the meeting.

"We will help other federations, especially those that have possibility to deliver good results, to appoint foreign coaches even though everything depends on the availability of funds. The budget will be placed before the sports ministry on April 23," added Sarkar.

BOA also asked the federations to start preparation partially now before starting it in full-swing after the Eid-ul-Azha as well as the fund allocation.