A video of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa playing basketball with Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and senior U.S. military officials has gone viral.
In the footage, al-Sharaa is seen on the court with United States Central Command’s Adm. Brad Cooper and Brig.-Gen. Kevin Lambert. The location and timing of the video remain unclear. Al-Shaibani shared the footage on social media with the caption: “Work hard, play harder.”
This video shows Syrian Int President Ahmad al-Sharaa and FM Asaad al-Shaibani playing basketball with U.S. military officials, including CENTCOM’s Admiral Brad Cooper and anti-ISIS coalition head Brig. Gen. Kevin Lambert.pic.twitter.com/NGhlNqspUw
— Wladimir van Wilgenburg (@vvanwilgenburg) November 9, 2025
Al-Sharaa and al-Shaibani are currently in the U.S. and are scheduled to meet President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.
Both the Syrian President and Foreign Minister were founding members of the Nusrah Front under al-Qaeda before transitioning the group into Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
In December, the U.S. removed the $10 million bounty on al-Sharaa after he led HTS to oust Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Months later, HTS was removed from the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations, and sanctions restricting financial and business dealings with Syria were lifted.
US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said earlier this month that al-Sharaa would “hopefully” sign an agreement to join the international US-led alliance against the ISIS group.
The Syrian interior ministry announced early Sunday that it had recently carried out 61 raids and made 71 arrests in a “proactive campaign to neutralize the threat” of ISIS, according to the official SANA news agency.
