Leila Pereira skips Maracanã for Flamengo v Palmeiras, here’s why | OneFootball

The president of Palmeiras, Leila Pereira, chose not to travel to Rio de Janeiro with the rest of the delegation for the match against Flamengo, which takes place this Sunday at 4 p.m. (Brasília time), at the Maracanã, for the 29th round of the Brazilian Championship.

The information was initially published by ESPN and confirmed by Gazeta Esportiva.

What motivated Leila's decision?

The president always closely follows the club, but she will watch the match between the top teams in the Brasileirão on television, as she believes there is no good atmosphere to go to Maracanã. Flamengo and Palmeiras, represented by Luiz Eduardo Baptista, known as Bap, and Leila Pereira, have been engaged in a heated dispute behind the scenes involving the Libra.

In 2024, Leila experienced an awkward situation at the venue, during a 1-1 draw with Flamengo in the Brasileirão. On that occasion, she was prevented from passing in front of the box of the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Cláudio Castro, and had to walk through the Flamengo fans to reach the box reserved for Palmeiras.

This situation occurred shortly after a confusion at Allianz Parque, involving the politician and Palmeiras’ football director, Anderson Barros, who reported threats after blocking the governor’s entourage from going to the locker room following Palmeiras’ elimination from the Copa do Brasil.

Leila faced a similar situation in a feud with John Textor

Last year, Leila Pereira also chose not to attend the match between Palmeiras and Botafogo in the Brazilian Championship at Nilton Santos, to avoid problems at a time when the club boards were in conflict. On that occasion, a Botafogo supporters’ group hung “hanged” dolls of Leila Pereira and also of then CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues.

The feud between Textor and Leila had a different motivation: at the time, the owner of Botafogo’s SAF accused Verdão of being involved in an alleged match-fixing scheme.

Leila vs. Bap

In recent days, the backstage has heated up with the feud between Leila and Bap, who disagree over the club’s interests in Libra. The dispute between the two clubs began when the Rio club obtained a court injunction to block the transfer of R$ 77 million from a share of the Brazilian Championship broadcasting rights to Libra members.

Bap took the opportunity to provoke Leila Pereira and questioned a loan from Crefisa to Vasco. The Palmeiras president responded to the statement and mentioned a comment by Bap in 2014.

“As for president Bap’s insinuation about the rumor that I am buying Vasco, he can rest assured. I am not buying Vasco. In fact, I am not buying either Vasco or Netflix,” said Leila Pereira.

Presidents were together at a Conmebol meeting

This week, Leila and Bap were together at a meeting at Conmebol headquarters in Paraguay, at a gathering of the directors of the Libertadores semifinalists: Palmeiras, Flamengo, LDU, and Racing.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.