President Alverde reduces the impact of referee errors and promotes internal responsibility for low performance
November 26
2025
– 3:01 pm
(Updated at 3:01 p.m.)
Palmeiras club president Leila Pereira has refuted Abel Ferreira’s statements about recent alleged losses caused by arbitration. The coach said last Tuesday (11/25) that “a lot has changed” after the controversial match against Sao Paulo in the Brazilian League, suggesting that the referees’ decisions since then would have been decisive in Verdão’s fall from the struggle for the national title.
Leila publicly disagreed with the assessment. At an event held on Wednesday (26/11), in São Paulo, the manager stated that performance below expectations cannot be attributed to external factors.
“I don’t think the last five games, which we couldn’t win, were because of the refereeing. I can’t shift the responsibility that is on us. We didn’t win because of our responsibility, because of our inability. That’s very clear to me, very clear to the director of football and I think it’s very clear to our coach.”
The leader stressed that the recent fluctuation requires internal corrections and not a search for the culprits.
He added, “What will we do? We are trying to correct these problems that occurred in the last matches. I do not agree with you, I do not like it. You see me talking a little about arbitration and calendar problems… This is the reality in which we live and we must fight to overcome the difficulties.”
Mistakes are everyone’s responsibility
Laila also considered that despite the flaws admitted by the team itself, refereeing errors occurred to all clubs throughout the competition, not just against Palmeiras.
“The difficulty is not limited to Palmeiras only. The refereeing errors were not against Palmeiras only, they are with all clubs. I agree that the problems in the last matches, I will be clear and speak as president of Palmeiras, were due to our inability, and we are aware. As fans, we will work to overcome these difficulties,” the actor concluded.
Palmeiras focuses on Libertadores
Therefore, with the Brazilian League now away, the club is focusing all its attention on the Libertadores final, scheduled for Saturday (29/11), at 6pm, in Lima, Peru. Even after her public disagreement with Appel, Laila confirmed that she intends to keep the coach until 2026, regardless of the outcome of the decision.
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