"For me, it was the combination of passion and science. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to be part of something that isn’t just relevant today, but is clearly built to grow for many years to come," Olympiacos basketball player Sasha Vezenkov says of his strategic partnership with EMBIO Diagnostics as an investor and brand ambassador for the airbeld™ solution.
The collaboration kicked off with a comprehensive campaign featuring a video where the renowned athlete highlights the importance of air quality and its direct impact on our health, well-being, and longevity.
With research showing that indoor air can be up to five times more polluted than outdoor air, significantly affecting children, the elderly and families, often without us even realising, the airbeld™ solution directly addresses the quality of the air we breathe. It is a device that monitors and records key indicators such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), dust particles, chemical substances, humidity and other invisible factors, revealing what we are truly breathing and how it can impact our health.
In an exclusive interview with CBN, Vezenkov talks about what first drew him to cooperation and shares the reasons why air quality is so important for athletic performance as well as the health of all the family.
Among other things, he also reveals the impact incorporating the airbeld™ solution has made on his professional and home life.
Most athletes limit their endorsements to familiar areas like sportswear or nutrition. What pushed you from simply using airbeld™ to taking an actual equity stake in a diagnostics company?
For me, it was the combination of passion and science. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to be part of something that isn’t just relevant today, but is clearly built to grow for many years to come.
I’ve known EMBIO for a long time and I’ve seen how consistently the team has evolved, always grounded in scientific credibility. This wasn’t about attaching my name to a product. It was about joining a long-term vision that is serious, measurable, and meaningful.
When I saw how airbeld™ translates complex science into something that actually improves everyday life, the decision felt natural. Becoming an investor was about believing in the future of this mission, not just supporting a moment.
Your performance depends on staying in peak physical condition. Did learning about invisible indoor pollutants change the way you think about health, recovery, or your training environment?
Absolutely. You simply cannot talk about longevity if you don’t have quality sleep. Sleep is not optional; it’s the foundation.
When we talk about the basic principles of performance and long-term health, these are the fundamentals on which everything else is built. And this responsibility starts with you. It’s not the team’s job, even if the facilities are equipped with the latest technology and cutting-edge systems.
You can have the best infrastructure around you, but if you don’t understand how your environment affects your body, you’re missing the point. Longevity, recovery, and performance begin with awareness, and air quality is a critical part of that foundation.
More broadly, how seriously does the sport treat environmental factors, and air quality in particular, when it comes to performance and player well-being?
In the NBA, you have an entire team of people monitoring every single detail. Everything is tracked 24/7, systems, recovery, the environment. Monitoring technologies like air quality sensors are part of that ecosystem.
I’ve experienced it firsthand in places like Boston and Los Angeles, and you can actually feel the difference in how your body responds and how the game flows. The environment supports performance at every level. Europe will follow.
Once you understand what technology like airbeld™ can do, how it allows you to build personalised solutions tailored to everyone’s needs, it becomes obvious that this is the future. It’s not about trends; it’s about precision.
Since you started using the device at home, have you made any changes to your daily routine or living environment? What’s one small adjustment that made the biggest difference for you?
My sleep improved significantly. And beyond that, awareness changed everything.
When we have people over, we can tell if the space is too crowded, if we need fresh air, or if conditions increase the chances of getting sick. These are small things, but they make a huge difference in your day and in your life.
There were moments when I felt off: headaches, nausea, low energy. Now I understand why. When you see these changes in real time, you realise how deeply air quality affects how you feel. Once you experience that difference, you don’t want to go back.
