Acclaimed president of Palmeiras in 2021, with no opponent in the election, Leila Pereira will have an opponent in the election scheduled for the 24th. Savério Orlandi, 53, was the name chosen in a union of several groups unhappy with the management of the 59-year-old businesswoman. years.
She is widely considered a favorite – in the filter of the Deliberative Council, which approved the candidacies for the general assembly of members, she had 168 votes, against 85 for her rival. But the antagonist seeks to demonstrate confidence that he will be victorious and ensures that his attack is not a mere demarcation of position with his eyes on the 2027 dispute.
“We entered from the beginning to win the election, and we believe we can win the election. We see a very large receptivity, it is a movement that is gaining a very large body. Of course there is a difficulty in relation to the portion that is under hypnosis. It’s a huge contingent”, said Savério.
This hypnosis, according to him, has to do with the free shows promoted at the club. Just renting the gym during the election period, a rule highly contested by the opposition, costs R$100,000. Next Monday (11), under the pretext of celebrating Leila’s birthday, there will be a performance by the band Jota Quest. The singer Ivete Sangalo was recently at the headquarters, and parties were held with unlimited draft beer.
“Any common citizen must be able to contest an election within Palmeiras. It cannot just be economic power. What happened, in our view, was that, with the aim of providing an apparent legality, an apparent legitimacy, no the concept of reasonableness was met. Cool, she can put on a show, so can we. But it costs R$100,000 for the gym. Is it reasonable to spend R$300,000 and give a rock band a show?” Orlandi.
His group, “Palmeiras Minha Vida É Você”, decided not to rent either the gym or the standardized campaign stand, costing R$50,000. According to the candidate, the charge was yet another demonstration of the current president’s profile.
“Palmeiras needs to breathe a democratic air again. The club has, in recent years, entered a dark night again, with clientelism once again prevailing. Just see that the board today has more than 140 names. There are 44 special advisors to the presidency! There’s not even time to deal with these people, there’s no matter to deal with 44 advisors”, said Savério.
In this interview with Sheetthe lawyer condemned Leila’s “very personal” management, criticized the management of the club’s finances and promised a strong team for the Club World Cup, next year, if he is elected. He also promised that his administration will have more women than the current one, led by a woman.
Why, this time, will Leila have an opponent? The opposition is made up of several groups, several leaders, and there was no grouping together on that occasion. This time, especially after that interview of hers last year, when Palmeiras was eliminated by Boca Juniors, the opposition people started to wake up. She was very disrespectful.
Are you referring to the time she said that, when she left, Palmeiras would return to the second division? It’s even nonsense. So, I would be authorized to conclude the following: “If you stayed for three years, and your successor, whoever it may be, won’t be able to continue, you didn’t prepare.” In any organization, in any company listed on B3, which has its CEO, the board of directors will be permanently taking care of succession. In our management, we think of Palmeiras for 5, 10, 15 years. When we talk about this very personal characteristic of the current management, it is because nothing is being seen beyond her departure.
But Leila didn’t enter Palmeiras by kicking the door. Didn’t the club itself and its Deliberative Council open the doors until they gave her the key? This happened. It’s an interesting read. I, personally, was always against it, but a relationship of dependence, almost begging, was established from the beginning, due to the fact that at the time it was a huge contract. [o patrocínio da Crefisa, à época acima do valor de mercado].
Palmeiras accepted this dependent relationship and opened the club entirely to her. Little by little, there was this process, which is a process of co-optation. At the end of the day, it is nothing more than that, an economic co-option. And then you expand your power until you get to where we are today.
In addition to the sponsor, she owns the plane used by the club and the company that controls Arena Barueri, where the team also plays. Is there a conflict of interest? The conflict of interests, in our view, is undeniable. The president categorically denies the existence of this conflict. I even understand that it would be more beneficial for it to recognize the existence of the conflict and, based on this recognition, create strategies and mechanisms to mitigate the conflict of interests. There is a primary instrument in this type of situation, in any corporate organization, which is the transaction policy with related parties: what can and cannot be done.
You said you entered the election to win, but, apart from the issue of the shows at the headquarters, Palmeiras is going through a victorious phase in football and, compared to its rivals, has relatively stable finances. Can you compete? I think so. But, speaking of the economic issue, let’s remember that, when our competitor took over, there was a promise of an improvement in the economic condition, and that did not happen. Starting with the club’s revenue, which was stagnant. The sponsorship contract has not been adjusted for three years. And you have cash flow issues.
Palmeiras has great difficulty in its day-to-day operations with short-term obligations. At the beginning of the year, she advanced the sponsorship money until September. With herself, coincidentally… We cannot agree that a club with revenue strength like ours – last year, we earned R$ 840 million, this year we will reach R$ 1 billion – has to frequently rely on operations short-term banking, loan for 60, 90 days. This is not an invention, there are the balance sheets.
Okay, all this bothers you. But what do you propose, what would be the pillars of your management? In relation to football, we understand that today Palmeiras has reached a condition in terms of quality, which is a construction. This did not happen yesterday, the day before yesterday or at the beginning of the current president’s administration, three years ago. This is a construction that has practically been going on for a decade, since the inauguration of Allianz Parque, which is now ten years old, which we understand is in fact the transformative element in the recent history of Palmeiras. This construction has achieved a place of excellence. We need to take it, improve it and improve it.
Regarding the financial issue, our plan includes, in quotation marks, internal financial fair play. We have economic fundamentals to eliminate or reduce cash flow difficulties and recover investment capacity. We can do this by increasing revenue, revenue that was pent up.
And, in the management part, governance. As I said, Palmeiras needs to breathe democratic air again, this is a fundamental point. We talked about clientelism, the 44 special advisors to the presidency, and it is notable that there is no woman. It’s an issue that we need to face, with percentage targets, 20% initially, then 30%, and we will increase women’s participation.
So, I think these are the points: governance, improvement in the condition of financial sustainability and democracy.
Speaking more specifically about the squad, despite the good results, the team seems to be going through a period of transition, there is a demand for adjustments in the group. How do you see the squad? Palmeiras made a strategic decision, which starts with the previous management and goes directly through this management and the work of our coach, which is an exceptional job, of stretching the squad. The club began to accumulate achievements and saw a way to maintain the squad until further notice. There are players who have been under contract at Palmeiras for many years, for more than five years.
The next president, be it me or my opponent, will face the issue of transitioning this squad, there is no doubt about it. You won’t be able to extend already stretched contracts of six, seven, eight years. There are athletes who have already expressed their intention to leave. But I see it more as a medium and long term, for the middle, for the third part of the management.
I see a winning cast, which has brought us so much joy in recent years. I think he can undergo adjustments, improvements, but, first of all, we need to understand what the coach thinks. And always in collegiate decisions, I really believe in that.
I think we can improve it a little. Personally, I think the squad could be adjusted with signings for next year, with reinforcements, taking into account the championship we are going to compete in. [a ampliada Copa do Mundo de Clubes]. And, after halfway through the administration, take care to make the transition well and complete it well.
You were recently in Mancha Verde, which was involved in yet another violent episode. How did you see this situation and what would your relationship with the organization be like? I want to clarify that I did not build any relationship with Mancha Verde. I was invited to go there, before this episode, and I have little to say about the episode, because it is reprehensible in itself, it is reprehensible, it no longer has a place within football and society. Fortunately, the matter is being handled as it should be handled: by the police, by the courts.
Now, regarding the relationship issue, nothing has been built. I received an invitation to be there and to talk about certain demands. I was there, I wasn’t alone, I was with one of my vice candidates, with the campaign support staff. It’s not an easy conversation, it’s not an easy conversation, because it’s a conversation with some hostility, it’s a conversation with a demanding tone, but it’s a conversation that I understood. I was there because I understood that I could never steal away.
Let’s remember that the fans expressly said at the meeting: “We don’t support anyone. We made an exception, which was with your competitor, and we deeply regret it, because we broke our faces.” I even said on the day: “I always knew it was the chronicle of a death announced [o rompimento entre Mancha e Leila]”. Because I was convinced it would end badly, I just didn’t know when. I was even surprised by the speed.
The premises would never work, they were inadequate, first with promises that would never come true, popular shirt, popular ticket. And there was an exaggeration, an inadequacy. For the director to go to the samba school headquarters and name the samba school’s football court is not right. The leader gives the name to the pet…
The relationship, to answer your question, is institutional. “Well, Savério, that’s what everyone says, commonplace bitch. What is that?” Dude, here’s the thing: we understand that you’re an actor within the set. I was football director for four years, and there was never free tickets for anyone, there was never money for anyone’s bus. Now, there was always dialogue, there was always conversation. Under the conditions we could talk. So, for example: “Ah, I want to talk to the player.” Won’t talk. What you want to talk about, you talk to us.
