Rafaela Pimienta talks about the transportation system, gender inequality and much more

There is a misconception about Pimenta that she has taken over the role left by the sudden death of Mino Raiola in April 2020.

Pimenta has worked closely with one of football’s most controversial figures, but from the start she was her own woman; That was one of the main reasons Raiola wanted to work with her, tracking her down in her native Brazil after a previous meeting when she, as a qualified lawyer, was asked to act as an interpreter in a deal.

“He said I was the only one who told him no, and because other people only wanted his money, they would say yes to the craziest projects,” she recalls.

“I thought it would last five minutes. And it lasted 35 years.”

Unfortunately, her experiences at that time were not all positive, especially when it came to gender inequality.

“When I was doing this years ago, there were very few women in decision-making positions,” Pimienta said.

“There was Marina [Granovskaia] In Chelsea but in general, you can count it on your fingers.

“What I would see is a lot of women working in clubs doing a lot of things that were decision-making but they weren’t recognized.

“It was a corridor, and it will always be the same. The scout, the technicians, the secretary, the decision-maker. You will pass through everyone and get to the last door. Behind the last door there will be a man.”

Pimenta says women responding to the fact that she was able to get to the final “door” helped her career.

However, the response of the men I entered was often negative.

“We’ve come a long way from my first encounter with a sports director who said, ‘You’re already there, I thought you were a bitch from Brazil’ to where we are today, but many men still use sex to throw you off balance.

“They may talk behind my back to make me feel fragile or have less power.”

Pimenta tells a story about two years ago, when she bargained for a contract with a club in the presence of a lawyer she had hired solely for his expertise in writing the language in which she was negotiating.

Once the deal was concluded, the club official told the lawyer, “You taught her well.”

“The guy meant it as a compliment,” Pimienta said. “He was trying to be nice. It was unbelievable.”