Leila reaffirms her confidence in Abel in the Al Saad case and denies the possibility of investing in Vasco

Leila Pereira, president of Palmeiras, participated in the meeting of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) which decided to resume the Brazilian Championship next weekend. During the meeting, she commented on Abel Ferreira's situation with the Al Saad club, from Qatar. The club took the coach to court after failing to comply with the pre-contract that defined that the Portuguese would take over the club in 2024.

Al Saad case

Leila Pereira stated that Palmeiras is already aware of the confusion that occurred during the period in which Abel was deciding whether or not to remain at the Alviverde club, and made his legal team available to support his current coach. The president said that the continuity of the Portuguese's work is the most important thing at the moment, and that she doesn't even remember the imbroglio with the Qatari club.

“Abel has a contract with us until December 2025. That's what interests us. He is where he wants to be and my biggest challenge would be that, if the associate continues to trust in my work, re-elects me president, I would like Abel to stay with us until the last day of my term. That's the big point, folks. About Al Sadd, I don't even remember that club. You guys remind me of this club. The most important thing is that Abel is at Palmeiras. He loves being at Palmeiras and I'm sure the fans do too“, he spoke.

Furthermore, she emphasized that the coach has the trust of everyone at the club, including the fans, who have already paid tribute to the coach to try to convince him of his stay. Leila said she does not fear a shake-up of trust with the coach's affair with Al Saad becoming public knowledge.

“No way. Abel has our deepest consideration. He is an extremely serious and focused coach, so he has a lot of credibility with us… He is an extremely successful coach, who has my complete trust and I will do everything possible and impossible for Abel to stay until the end of my term.”, he concluded.

_{Leila Pereira talks about the imbroglio between Abel Ferreira and Al Saad (Photo: Reproduction/Instagram/@ge.globo)}

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Vasco SAF

In addition to the case involving Abel Ferreira, another topic affected Verdão's backstage. Over the last few days, the president's name has been involved in questions regarding a possible negotiation between Crefisa and José Roberto Lamacchia, Leila's husband and owner of the company, to acquire the Vasco shares that currently belong to 777 Parteners.

Leila Pereira followed her husband's speech, who completely denied the speculation and treated the matter as closed.

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“As you all know, I am president of Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras, in November we will have an election, I am a candidate for re-election. I, as president of Palmeiras and my husband as first gentleman of Palmeiras, could not under any circumstances negotiate the purchase of a club. My companies are major sponsors of Brazilian football, there are clubs that look for us.“, she said.

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_{Leila Pereira and José Roberto Lamacchia in Palmeiras' 5-0 victory over Liverpool – URU (Reproduction/Instagram/@leilapereira)}

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John Textor lawsuit

The owner of SAF do Botafogo has been involved in several controversies over the last few months, including with Palmeiras after Alviverde's victory in the 2023 Brasileirão. John Textor claims to have been offended by Leila Pereira three times by being called a “braggart”, “ shame on Brazilian football” and “idiot”. For this reason, the American took the president of the São Paulo club to court for insult and defamation.

Leila states that she has not yet received notification from the Court but that she saw it in the press. She said that she does not have details of the case and explained the reason for her statements.

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“What I cannot allow is for us to denigrate the brilliant work of all our professionals. I can't let anyone diminish the work of our athletes and professionals… What I responded to Textor was because of his words, putting our 2022 and 2023 titles into question”, he concluded.

The off-field issues have not impacted Palmeiras, at least when it comes to the Copa Libertadores. The alviverde team has already secured the first position in Group F and is looking for a victory against San Lorenzo, from Argentina, to try to guarantee the overall leadership. The clash will be on Thursday, at 7pm, at Allianz Parque.

Featured photo: Leila Pereira in a Palmeiras game at Allianz Parque (Reproduction/Instagram/@leilapereira)

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