Plaudits for The Post’s sporting coverage

The Phnom Penh Post, the longest-running English language newspaper in Cambodia, has been in print since 1992, and become a Monday-to-Friday daily in 2008.

The Khmer language Post Khmer was added the following year, ensuring the publication could reach foreign and Cambodia readers.

Although both the English and Khmer editions will cease to appear in print at the end of March, the online presence of The Post will remain as the “newspaper of record”, providing a window through which the world can view the true situation on the ground in Cambodia. Its in-depth coverage includes the latest sporting news, with a particular focus on domestic competitions. 

Back in 2010, a separate weeks sporting news supplement, called “Sports Today”, was added. Recalling the establishment of the sporting journal, the original editor, Ung Chamroeun, expresses his pride at playing a role in its creation.

“Before I joined The Post, it already had its own sports content, but what I was most proud of was joining a separate weekly sports journal during 2010, because Sports Today contributed significantly to the promotion of sports in Cambodia, which at that time was not as extensive and diverse as it is today,” says Chamroeun, who left The Post in 2012 and went on to become the editor-in-chief of ThmeyThmey Media.

“Although some people think of sports as secondary information used to fill pages, the sports news department of The Post worked hard to create strong content that reflected the depth of each sport. We covered all major events, even if we sometimes had to toil over our desks until 1am to create comprehensive articles that did justice to each competition,” he adds.

Dedication to detail

The Post sports team, both reporters and photographers, covered live events, conducted detailed interviews and did their best to obtain the most thrilling images, with our initial focus on football and Kun Khmer boxing. Later, The Post expanded coverage to all sports, allowing the general public to become more aware of the reality of the Kingdom’s sporting scene.

At first, attendance was limited at live sporting events, but The Post team always stayed focused on gathering the real stories, real facts and real feelings of those who were there, eventually earning the trust of not only the readers but of the movers and shakers of the sporting world

“The Post placed a huge value on sport news. In addition to publishing daily updates and competition results, we offered a series of informative articles about the history of sport, background pieces on local and international athletes, the rules of different games and competition programmes,” says Chamroeun.

“When it came to football and boxing, we provided in-depth information about the players, match programmes, live match commentary and post-match interviews. We partnered with television stations for weekend broadcasts of boxing matches to make it easier for our readers to keep abreast of the fight scene, and developed an excellent relationship with the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia [NOCC] and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, as well as the Kingdom’s sporting federations and clubs,” he continues.

Shared passion

In addition to contributing to the promotion and enhancement of the local sporting scene, The Post’s sports team also plays a central role in raising public awareness of the accomplishments of Cambodian sportsmen and women on the international stage, whether in regional, Asian or global competitions.

Every time one of the Kingdom’s athletes achieves glory and claims a gold, silver or bronze medal at an international event, The Post is there to share in their pride, publishing the details of their accomplishments and helping the Cambodian people to share in their success.

At each of these international competitions, The Post closely monitors every element of every story, collecting details and sources from all angles, to ensure that what is reported can be trusted by the readers, as well as the leaders of sporting governing bodies and coaches, and of course, the athletes themselves.

When Cambodia made history in 2023 and hosted the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and the 12th ASEAN Para Games for the first time ever, The Post was right there, providing in-depth coverage of the entire games. This began with the initial planning, which began in 2019, and continued to the brilliant successes of the games, both in terms of the Kingdom’s medal table results and the smooth running of the events. Many international guests described the games hosted by Cambodia as “brilliant” and the “best ever”.

The Post’s photographers worked hard to capture the most memorable images of the spectacular opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the incredible sporting performances, and the incredible settings in which they took place.

Its extensive coverage reflected the pride, prestige and great success of the host nation, which organised the historical event in the best possible way and received great acclaim.

Olympic spirit

Thanks to its steadfast promotion of sports from 1992 to the present, the Kingdom’s Olympic committee, NOCC, considers The Post a crucial contributor to the dissemination of the Olympic ideals across the motherland. It notes that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) also considers The Post’s sporting coverage a reflection of the true status of the Olympic movement in Cambodia.

“We would like to thank The Post. Since the NOCC was reformed in 2009, The Post has made a significant contribution to the development of the Olympic movement in Cambodia, most notably through its coverage of the Olympic Games and its success in encouraging the public to admire the Kingdom’s athletes,” says NOCC secretary-general Vath Chamroeun.

“As The Post publishes in both Khmer and English, the English language version is used by the IOC to learn about our work. This has been very helpful over the past years. When I met with IOC leaders, they often mentioned that they monitored the work of the NOCC through The Post. In addition, we often share articles from The Post to our official website,” he adds.

Despite its digital transition, Chamroeun insists that The Post continue to publish in-depth sporting coverage.

“We hope that The Post team will continue to improve online, with strong articles and stories, as well as close attention to the latest news from the Olympic committee,” he says.

Shaping the future

In addition to the recognition it has received from the NOCC and IOC for its contributions to the promotion of sports in Cambodia, The Post has also become an important incubator of reporting talent and point of reference for many other members of the Kingdom’s sports media.

Former Sabay sports reporter Oum Sopheak, a popular volleyball commentator commonly known as “Duku”, shares the influence The Post has had on his own career.

“The Post has always published all kinds of sports stories, and their articles are comprehensive and always feature reliable sources,” he said.

“My friends and I used to read The Post’s sports coverage. I often memorised and quoted many parts of their articles, in order to improve my own writing skills, both in terms of writing style and the use of well-formed phrases. 

“I believe that young people who are learning to write should use The Post as a foundation, while those who are more experienced should consult it regularly. It is accurate, adheres to professional standards and stands by all of its reporting,” he says.