The president of Palmeiras, Leila Pereira, expressed her dissatisfaction with Brazilian clubs who do not pay players and other teams up to date and promised to “hit hard” on the subject. According to her, it is the lack of financial fair play in football in the country and not the synthetic lawns, the target of recent attacks by a group of local players, which causes imbalance (Palmeiras is one of Brazil’s teams that has synthetic grass in their stadium).
“Clubs that delay salaries, that delay right to image because they pay CLT on time and do not pay image rights, that delay commitments with other clubs in the acquisition of players and continue to compete in equal condition. This creates total distortion in the championship, is an extremely important agenda. ESPN.
“Because Palmeiras competes on equal terms, because we pay commitments on days and demand that other clubs also pay up to date, including (pay) Palmeiras itself. This is an extremely important agenda. It is not synthetic lawn that creates imbalance between competitions but the lack of financial fair play.”
Throughout February, criticism of the synthetic lawns came back in the agenda after a movement led by Neymar, Lucas Moura and Thiago Silva, with the support of several names in Serie A of the Brazilian Championship, gaining strength on social networks. In the first division, Engenhão (Botafogo) and Allianz Parque (Palmeiras) adopt the synthetic lawn, while MRV Arena (Atlético-MG) has plans to install soon.
A few days ago, Leila Pereira had already attacked the players who lead the movement. “The athletes who complain (from the synthetic lawn) are usually older. I even understand that they want to prolong their professional life further, and think they can shorten their life. But they are usually athletes who should have stopped playing football instead of complaining about the lawn,” said the leader. “In Brazil, the reality is different. If the European lawns are so good, great. Stay there and don’t come here.”
