An edited picture showing Cambodian fans holding a portrait photo of Pol Pot

While Pol Pot was known as the first big brother of the Khmer Rouge leaders and the Prime Minister of the Democratic Kampuchea regime, known as the “Khmer Rouge regime”, massacred millions of Cambodians, a photo of Cambodian national football fans standing with a photo of him along with the caption “We love Pol Pot”. The above post has been shared and commented on many times by various social media users. However, Fact Crescendo Cambodia fact-finding found that the photo was edited.

This is about our investigation of this claim photo.

Social Media Claim

On November 8, 2023, a Facebook user posted a photo to a Facebook group called “Amazing World Culture Club V.3 (AWCC)” showing the fans of the Cambodian national football team standing and holding a photo of former Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot. Photos attached to this post have been distributed several times, with mixed reactions and expressions from both active Thai and Khmer Facebook users.

Below is a snapshot from the user’s post that shows the view of Cambodian football fans holding a photo of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

Fact Check

Fact Crescendo Cambodia reviewed and verified the above claim through the Google Reverse Image Search process, which led to the following facts:

The photo, which has the exact same shape, was found and posted on the Keila 24 news website on April 30, 2023. The same news website above shows the view of the national football fans of Cambodia holding the portrait photo of the King of Cambodia, His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni, during the SEA Games football match between the national teams of Cambodia and East Timor on the night of April 29, 2023.

The following is an image captured from the website above that does not show a view of Cambodian football fans standing with a photo of former Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot.

Keila 24 | Archived Link

Similarly, the view of Cambodian football fans standing and holding the portrait photo of Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni above was also found and posted on the official Facebook page of the Football Federation of Cambodia on April 30, 2023. The above Facebook post confirmed that it was the scene of the SEA Games match between the Cambodian U22 national team and the national team of East Timor U22s at the National Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh.

Football Federation of Cambodia | Archived Link

The following is a comparison between the edited photo and the original photo found on social media.

Follow Us and Stay Up to Date with Our Latest Fact Checks.

Facebook Twitter Telegram Google News TikTok

You may find the details of this fact-check in Khmer language here as well.

Conclusion

Fact Crescendo Cambodia has found that the photos posted by the users above are digitally altered. The original image shows Cambodian football fans holding the portrait photo of King Norodom Sihamoni during a football match between Cambodia and East Timor.