Father and son? Journalist warns Palmeiras, Vasco over conflict of interest

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Coluna do Fla

·31 marzo 2026

Father and son? Journalist warns Palmeiras, Vasco over conflict of interest

Leila Pereira’s stepson, president of Vasco, is close to taking over Vasco’s SAF

Vasco is close to being sold and managed by businessman Marcos Lamacchia, son of the owner of Crefisa. As a result, discussions about a conflict of interest in Brazilian football have come to light, since Leila Pereira, president of Palmeiras, is a partner in the company. With that, journalist Rodrigo Capelo issued a warning to clubs.

Rodrigo Capelo, sobre possível venda da SAF do Vasco para Marcos Lamacchia: “O ponto de atenção é o conflito de interesses de uma mesma família controlar dois clubes do mesmo campeonato. Tem que manter a integridade do campeonato.” 🎥 Canal @dudagarbi
– lunedì 30 marzo 2026

Their biggest expectation is to close a deal with the Lamacchia family, who own Crefisa. Before Pedrinho reached the point he did, becoming president and managing to regain control of the SAF, Crefisa was already close, already looking at it. The issue is that they have their own internal division, and the person handling this Vasco matter was José Roberto Lamacchia, not Leila. Leila, because of her role at Palmeiras, stepped away. That’s the version I heard officially and behind the scenes. Now, they are married, they are a family. So a point of attention from now on is the conflict of interest, with the same family owning two clubs, owning one club, presiding over another, competing in the same competition, signing the same players. I don’t think the biggest risk is a match between Palmeiras and Vasco, honestly, although that is also an issue. I think the main thing is how you’re going to explain it to both fan bases. The group is going to put R$500 million into Vasco for the renovation of São Januário, to sign players, whatever. Palmeiras fans will say: “Why didn’t you do that at Palmeiras? Why aren’t you doing that at Palmeiras now?” Or Palmeiras goes out and signs the best player in Italy. And Vasco… you see? I think that’s an interesting point. And it’s hard for fans to get used to this world. And for the governing bodies, CBF, Conmebol, FIFA, UEFA, this is indeed a concern. The integrity of the competition has to be maintained,” he said in an interview with the ‘Duda Garbi’ channel.

What is the relationship between Marcos Lamacchia and Leila Pereira?

News of Marcos Lamacchia’s progress in buying Vasco sparked jokes on social media. After all, the businessman is the son of José Roberto Lamacchia, owner of Crefisa, and the stepson of Leila Pereira, president of Palmeiras. So fans are mocking their rivals from Rio about the possible influence of the São Paulo side at São Januário.

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Vasco and Marcos Lamacchia, in fact, are already in advanced talks to close the SAF deal. Thus, the businessman’s investment in Flamengo’s rival could exceed R$2 billion, an amount that the Rubro-Negro earned in 2025.

SAF at Flamengo?

Despite the growth of the Sociedade Anônima do Futebol model in Brazilian football, that is not Flamengo’s reality. The club’s president, Luiz Eduardo Baptista, has already stated that the Most Beloved will never become a SAF.

That’s an excellent question. I have absolutely nothing against SAFs. Nothing. What I think is this: what is the principle of an SAF? You have a football club that is unable to take on its debts, a club that is practically bankrupt from a management standpoint, and someone decides to take over,” he said, before concluding: “That person takes on the debts and makes new investments. That’s the principle. I am absolutely in favor of that. No problem at all. Flamengo will never be an SAF. Flamengo is like Real Madrid (ESP): it does not need to become an SAF,” Bap concluded in an interview with ‘Diario AS’.

What is Flamengo’s next match?

Meanwhile, Flamengo continues preparing to face Red Bull Bragantino this Thursday (02), after the FIFA international break. On that occasion, the ball starts rolling at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time) at the Cicero de Souza Marques Stadium, for the ninth round of the Brasileirão.

As tradition dictates, Coluna do Fla will bring all the details of the match between Flamengo and Bragantino through YouTube, the website and social media. However, Globo (free-to-air) and Premiere (pay-per-view) will broadcast the Brasileirão clash.

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