Former sports figure Soeprayogi dies at 84

JAKARTA (JP): A former executive chairman of the National Sports Council (KONI), Dadang Soeprayogi, died aged 84 on Sunday after suffering a heart attack.

His body was buried at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in a military funeral later in the day. He was a retired lieutenant general.

One of his colleagues, Mangombar Ferdinand Siregar, said Soeprayogi was a good role model, citing his long service in various sports organizations in the 1970s and 1980s.

"He used to visit athletes in their training camps in a wheelchair, just to give them encouragement," recalled Siregar, who was the sports council's secretary-general during Suprayogi's tenure from 1979 to 1986.

The former minister of public works under first president Sukarno held his post at the sports council under Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX, who died in 1988.

Soeprayogi entered the sports world as the Indonesian Swimming Association chairman in the early 1970s. During his term, the national swimming team notched up a remarkable feat by sweeping all the gold medals in its debut at the Southeast Asian Games in 1979.

"That was his greatest achievement ever as a sports official," Siregar said, as quoted by Antara.

Soeprayogi, sitting in his wheelchair, was on the sidelines when badminton players Susi Susanti and Alan Budikusuma won a pair of gold medals in the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992. The golds were Indonesia's first after 40 years of competing in the quadrennial competition.

He was also a member of the International Olympic Committee, representing Indonesia. In 1989 he handed these duties over to Mohamad "Bob" Hasan. (amd)