Leila Pereira

Leila Pereira is a Brazilian businesswoman and sports executive who became president of Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras in November 2021. She was the first woman elected to lead the Sao Paulo football club in its history, winning the vote for the 2022-2024 term. Her administration inherited a club that had recently won major trophies under previous president Mauricio Galiotte, but it soon added further titles and consolidated Palmeiras' financial strength. Pereira was re-elected in November 2024, receiving 2,295 votes in the members' election and securing a mandate running through 2027. Her presidency has made her a visible Brazilian football figure nationally.

Pereira is associated with Crefisa, the financial-services company whose name has appeared on Palmeiras shirts since 2015. She is its president, while her husband, entrepreneur Jose Roberto Lamacchia, is a principal figure in the business group that includes Faculdade das Americas, or FAM. Their companies became important to Palmeiras before she took the club presidency: Crefisa and FAM sponsored the team and made loans that helped fund transfers during Palmeiras' mid-2010s rebuilding. That relationship also made Pereira a controversial and scrutinized public figure because discussions of sponsorship, loans, and repayment intersected with questions about club governance and financial independence.

On the field, the men's team won the 2021 Copa Libertadores after Pereira's election, defeating Flamengo 2-1 after extra time in Montevideo on November 27. Palmeiras then won the 2022 Recopa Sudamericana against Athletico Paranaense and the 2022 Campeonato Brasileiro followed by the 2023 Brazilian championship. The club captured the Sao Paulo championship Campeonato Paulista in 2022, 2023, and 2024 and defeated Flamengo to take the 2023 Supercopa do Brasil. Abel Ferreira remained coach throughout this sequence, a continuity Pereira defended amid pressure after results. During her presidency Palmeiras opened a training center in Vinhedo for its women's football department.

Her tenure has combined trophies with public disputes. In 2024, Palmeiras agreed to sell forward Estevao to Chelsea; English club announced agreement in June, with player scheduled to join after turning eighteen in 2025. Pereira has defended the club's spending and decisions while criticizing opponents within Palmeiras. She has been prominent in debates over football's commercialization and the prospect of a breakaway league. Palmeiras remains an association rather than a SAF, the corporate-club model adopted by Brazilian rivals. Pereira's position is distinctive: she directs an elite club linked to its dominant sponsor, a connection central to debate over her leadership.