The recent conflict in Brazilian football has been marked by a series of confrontations between two prominent clubs, Botafogo and Palmeiras. And at the heart of it all? American businessman, John Textor, who owns a big part of Botafogo.
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Beginning of rivalry
Throwback to November 1st, when things really heated up after a game Palmeiras won against Botafogo, 4-3. But it was close and controversial. Textor wasn’t happy, especially about a Botafogo player, Adryelson, getting kicked out of the game. He thought it wasn’t fair.
Textor’s response? He went public, criticizing the Brazilian Football Confederation, the CBF. This led to some legal trouble with the CBF’s president. But Textor fought back. He claimed he had evidence that referees were favoring Palmeiras. According to him, Botafogo should’ve been way ahead in points.
The drama didn’t stop there. When Palmeiras won the Brazilian Championship, their president, Leila Pereira, called Textor “unbalanced.” She said he was making a big fuss and hurting soccer’s image. In her words,
“It surprises me because I think the owner is unbalanced. Botafogo leading the championship for so long, it causes all this problem, the turbulence and losing this championship I think Textor was unbalanced. It even gets ridiculous. It discredits and devalues this important product that is football. He should have more serenity. It is a part of Sir John Textor’s imbalance”
Textor’s response on social media
But Textor didn’t stay quiet. He hit back on social media. He pointed out that Palmeiras often played against teams that were a player down. He suggested this gave them an unfair edge.
Recent controversy
Recently, there was the issue with Júnior Santos, a Botafogo player. When Palmeiras seemed interested in him, Textor made a snarky comment. He suggested Palmeiras should look elsewhere, hinting that Botafogo likes to play fair and square unlike Palmeiras.
Palmeiras, though, decided not to get into a public spat over this.Some say Textor took the championship loss too hard and is just trying to create a rivalry that’s not really there.
