The history of organised sports in Odisha traces its origins to 1904, when Madhusudan Das formed the Orissa Sports Association.
It was an athletic institution which organised the sports competitions for seasonal and annual provincial games.
Harekrushna Mahatab became the first President of OOA and Bhairab Chandra Mohanty became the first secretary.
[4] The OOA decided to empower sports associations such as cricket, football, hockey, tennis and badminton in 1961, thus paving the way for formation of independent sports bodies for the governance of sports in Odisha.
[1] The OOA Executive Committee for the 2020–24 term:[5]