Maladi

Maladi was born in Surakarta, Central Java, on 31 August 1912. He was interested in football from a young age, playing as a goalkeeper. In 1930 he started with PSIM Yogyakarta, transferring to Persebaya Surabaya three years later and eventually becoming one of the top players in the league. He also played on the Indonesia national football team, using several pseudonyms. He also enjoyed refereeing games.

By the 1940s Maladi, by then a teacher and already experienced in radio broadcasting, had begun composing works in the kroncong style. During the national revolution Maladi fought in the pemuda, reaching the rank of major before retiring at the end of the revolution in 1949; he was a leader of the four-day general offensive in Surakarta early in the revolution. Towards the end of the war he worked to bring information of the revolution to Indonesian nationals abroad. During this period he also worked as a broadcaster for the radio network RRI (Radio Republik Indonesia) in Surakarta.

Beginning in 1951 he served as chairman of the Football Association of Indonesia, overseeing the organization's change in names and bringing in coach Tony Pogacnik for the national team. Under Pogacnik, the Indonesian football team played the Soviet Union to a draw at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. He also became involved in the Olympics, supervising Indonesia's first delegation at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, as well as the delegation at the 1956 Olympics. Maladi left the position in 1959, when he moved to Jakarta, but remained an honorary board member.