Palmeiras’ 2025 without titles, precisely in the year of greatest investment in football, echoed voices of opposition to the current board, drowned out in previous seasons with the team’s sporting success.
Dispersed and without great capacity for articulation in recent years, groups opposing President Leila Pereira saw the lack of return on the approximately R$700 million invested as a chance to unite to contest the leader’s project of seeking a third term at the club.
Leila’s wish depends on a statutory change, a target of criticism even among some supporters. Currently, only one re-election is possible in the alviverde team. The current president’s second term runs until the end of 2027.
The leader’s ambition, which would keep her in the chair until 2030, was labeled a “coup” by the opposition.
“Our statute provides for the possibility of amendment. There is no coup when the Council decides and the members ratify it”, defended the leader.
She cited the powerful Spanish club Real Madrid, ironically, to counter criticism from those who defend alternation in the presidency. “This issue of alternation of power doesn’t happen at Real Madrid. The president has been there for 20 years. Real Madrid is a small club, you know? And not at all successful…”
Palmeiras’ 2025 was not victorious, with tough defeats to Corinthians, a traditional arch-rival, and to Flamengo, the main opponent in the disputes of recent years.
Since Leila assumed the presidency, in December 2021, this was the first year without the addition of trophies to the alviverde gallery. The last wasted chance was in the Copa Libertadores final, in November, 1-0 for Flamengo.
The failure in the attempt to achieve the fourth place in the continental competition was added to the runner-up in the Brazilian Championship —also with Flamengo champion— and two defeats from Corinthians: in the decision of the Campeonato Paulista and in the round of 16 of the Copa do Brasil, whose title would go to the black and white team. In the Club World Cup, an irregular campaign was interrupted in the quarter-finals by Chelsea.
When the state trophy was lost to the black and white rival, fans criticized Leila’s behavior when presenting the runner-up cup to the athletes. “Because of their smile, they won the World Cup that was missing”, they joked on social media.
The frustrations led Leila to make a long outburst, lasting just over ten minutes, to the club’s advisors present at the meeting to approve the budget for 2026, held this month.
The president admitted that she had a “bitter taste” after the defeat to Flamengo in the Libertadores and spared no criticism of the squad itself. The biggest issue was the fact that the team led by Abel Ferreira, who recently had his contract extended until 2027, did not hit a shot towards the goal during the decision.
“How can I want to win the Libertadores if my players didn’t have a shot on goal? Do you know any way to win a game without a goal? I don’t. Now, I can’t say that out loud, otherwise I’ll upset my athletes? No. Yes, you have to say it. It’s their responsibility, it’s not mine. I did what I could,” said Leila.
“I invested what I could, but they didn’t have the ability to take a shot on goal”, added the director, who also highlighted stumbles in the final rounds of the Brazilian Championship — against Mirassol (defeat), Vitória and Fluminense (draws at home) — that cost them the national title.
“How come, at my home, at Allianz Parque, I didn’t beat Vitória? Was it because of my squad? Obviously not. My under-20 team had to beat Vitória. How come I didn’t win at my home at Fluminense? Wasn’t it our incapacity? Of course it was”, he complained.
The last title won by Palmeiras was the 2024 Paulista. Later that year, in a season in which it invested R$193 million in reinforcements, it also suffered failures in national and international competitions.
Leila’s outburst became a weapon for her opponents within Palmeiras. To prevent her rivals from being able to unite to the point of harming her ambitions, she sought support from old acquaintances in Palmeiras politics.
Two former presidents of the club have worked to make the change in statute possible, Mustafá Contursi (1993 to 2005) and Arnaldo Tirone (2011 to 2013). Both are still quite influential among Palmeiras advisors.
Changing the statute requires a majority vote by the Deliberative Council and a majority vote by all club members. In the most recent presidential election, last year, Leila easily beat her only opponent, Savério Orlandi, in the Council filter (168 to 85) and in the General Assembly (2,295 to 858).
Now, the opposition is trying to unite to stop the businesswoman’s new onslaught.
