Leila Pereira runs over old leaders and is elected president of Palmeiras

Leila Mejdalani Pereira, 57, warned through social networks that this Saturday (20) there would be distribution of popcorn, popsicles and cotton candy, as well as massage sessions and toys in a children’s space at the headquarters of Palmeiras. All free. The owner of Crefisa, the team’s main sponsor, wanted the councilors’ vote.

Single candidate, the businesswoman was elected in the late afternoon to be president alviverde for the next three years. She will start her term from December 15th. As there was no opposition slate, it only needed to obtain more than 50% of the votes of the General Assembly to be ratified in office. Of the 2,141 voters, Leila was chosen by 1,897 —244 voted blank.

The club’s first female mandate in 107 years will have two others among its vice runners: Maria Tereza Ambrósio Bellangero and Neive Conceição Bulla de Andrade. In addition to them, Paulo Roberto Buosi and Tarso Luiz Furtado Gouveia complete the team of assistants.

Among the rivals from São Paulo, only Corinthians had had a female lead until then, with Marlene Matheus (1991 to 1993). She, who died in 2019 at the age of 82, succeeded her husband, Vicente Matheus, in the presidency of the alvinegra association.

Leila ascends the throne in another context. Born in Cambuci (RJ), he moved with his family to Cabo Frio before completing one year. The businesswoman has already had to deny being a Vasco fan, the favorite team of her family members.

She, who graduated in Journalism (went through TV Manchete) and Law, says she fell in love with the Alviverde team under the influence of her husband, José Roberto Lamacchia, from São Paulo.

In 1966, he founded Crefisa, a credit and financing company. In 2014, while Lamacchia was fighting lymphoma and Palmeiras to escape relegation, Leila suggested to her husband that she sponsor the alviverde team. In January 2015, then president Paulo Nobre announced the arrival of the finance company, which would initially contribute R$23 million per season. The value tripled in a short time.

With the support of the new partnership, a balanced management by Nobre (2013 to 2016) —who made contributions from his own pocket for the club to balance the finances— and the diversification of revenues, Palmeiras would usher in a new era of titles, as in the times of Parmalat, in the 1990s. It also contributes to the commercial exploitation of the Allianz Parque, inaugurated in November 2014.

On the field, the team won the trophies of the Copa do Brasil (2015) and the Brazilian (2016). On the occasion of the latter, however, Nobre and Leila stopped talking. Not even his successor, Maurício Galiotte, regarded as a skilled diplomat, managed to avoid the rupture.

As much as Galiotte has been president in the last two terms (re-elected in 2018), with the achievements of the Brazilian (2018), Paulista, Copa do Brasil and Libertadores 2020, he does not have the same popularity as Leila among fans .

It sponsored the Mancha Verde Carnival parade, champion in 2019, and has promised to move the organized to a better sector of Allianz Parque, in addition to offering tickets at lower prices.

In August of this year, Palmeiras announced a renewal with the companies of the new mandate, Crefisa and FAM (Faculdade das Américas), for R$ 81 million per year, until the end of 2024, with the possibility of surpassing R$ 120 million with bonus for achievements in the field. It is the largest sponsorship contract for a football team in the country.

The agreement keeps Palmeiras ahead, even of Flamengo, with which they live intense disputes in the fields and beyond. In advertising revenue, there are BRL 127 million against BRL 104 million for the team from Rio. It is also almost double what Corinthians, with R$ 71 million, collects. These data refer to the year 2020 and comprise the financial analysis of Banco Itaú BBA.

Not everything is a flower in the Leila/Crefisa/Palmeiras relationship. There is a debt of R$ 161 million from the people of Palmeiras, according to the 2020 balance, due to loans made by the sponsor. The money had been used for hiring, and at first the company would recoup the investment by exploring the image of reinforcements and future sales.

However, fined by the Federal Revenue, Crefisa turned operations into loans, after a stroke from Mauricio Galiotte. The maneuver was even contested by the opposition in Palmeiras, but that group weakened. One wing believed the club had taken on a problem that wasn’t theirs.

Resolving conflicts of interest in the club’s relationship with its sponsor president will be one of the biggest challenges of the new administration.

In addition to her financial strength, Leila saw a clear path to the presidency thanks to the political weakening of Mustafa Contursi and the arms wrestling between advisers.

Mustafá, president of the association from 1993 to 2004, was unable to win his candidate, Mario Giannini. The group of advisers allied to Nobre denied him support.

Giannini, manager and football director in the Mustafa era, said in a statement that he withdrew from the election after all attempts to unite opposition forces had been exhausted.

The lawyer and life counselor Saverio Orlandi was another one who got in the way. He felt discredited when opponents bet on Giannini’s name.

“I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that Leila succeeds. I love this club. Let it go. [a Leila] take the popcorn, make the party, but I want to see it in a few months,” says Orlandi. “It’s a very big political challenge, and soon this flattery [de conselheiros e torcedores] just.”