On May 11, 2019, the Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation football team played in the 23rd annual diplomatic football tournament organised by the Chinese Sports Committee at Beijing Sport University. The Chinese Foreign Ministry team, and teams from 15 diplomatic missions and two from international organisations accredited in Beijing — the SCO Secretariat and the UN mission — took part in the friendly tournament.
The SCO Secretariat team did well in the tournament, and after playing against teams from Japan, Kazakhstan, the UK and Poland, reached the quarterfinals. After games with teams from Russia, France and South Africa, the SCO Secretariat team took sixth place among 18 teams. The Turkmenistan team won the tournament; the UK took second place and Russia third place.
SCO Deputy Secretary-General Nurlan Akkoshkarov thanked the organisers of the event for holding a football tournament which is traditionally aimed at consolidating friendly ties between diplomatic missions in Beijing.
The football tournament takes place annually in May between diplomatic missions and international organisations accredited in Beijing and is traditionally organised by the General Administration of Sport of China.