'We will play a key role in football's future' - independent football regulator the new chairman
The team's current difficulties are seen as a "major concern" and the new football authority is looking to gain the ability to examine team situations in comparable cases, the recently named head David Kogan has announced.
In a wide-ranging interview, the regulator, who was named to the position this week, showed understanding towards the club's followers.
Kogan met with four supporters' associations associated with the football team this week.
The football club have been struggling on and off the field in 2025, with the club delaying salary disbursements on multiple instances, including in September.
"Evidently Wednesday represents a significant problem for EFL and a major challenge for the sport," the regulator explained.
"Sheffield Wednesday is one of the iconic names for football in England and in recent days we have met Sheffield Wednesday supporters' groups.
"Our aim is to acquire the ability... which will allow us to have the club and similar situations submitted for our review if they need to be investigated and dealt with."
Financial Struggles and Proprietorship Status
The team's struggling chairman Dejphon Chansiri suggested earlier this year he would be prepared to relinquish control at Hillsborough, but he has been unable to finalize an agreement with prospective buyers.
Delayed salary payments on time in March and May led to sanctions by the football authorities in June, preventing the club from carrying out any recruitment activities for the next three transfer windows, although the ban was rescinded in the end of the transfer window.
Official's Viewpoint
Kogan said: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the supporters of Wednesday, Bury or any football club where people are committed to a regional establishment that has existed throughout their lifetimes in many cases.
"I fully appreciate the club's situation, as I do for every team that since 1992 have gone to the wall, or approached financial ruin, for reasons that have nothing to do with the supporters."
Questioned about whether the oversight body could require an owner to sell a club if they are deemed unsuitable, the chairman responded: "If your question is 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the reply is once we collect the information and comprehend the circumstances, we will."
But the chairman emphasized that compelling proprietors to divest clubs would be considered the final option and the regulator would prefer to work with them.
"Our least desirable course of action is begin intervening in an individual club, an individual owner, without being in a position to cooperate with that chairman to fix the challenges confronting the team and the chairman's encountering," the chairman stated.
"But the truth is, when you review the record of football, over the last 20 or 30 years there have been certain proprietors, few in number, but certain individuals who have acted carelessly in the way which they've been managing their teams and eventually decline to assume obligation for the coming years."
Wednesday followers have been demonstrating against the team's chairman in recent months
'Mistakes could erase significant advances'
The chairman convened with officials from numerous teams to explain the responsibilities of the oversight body this week and maintained it represented a "progressive gathering" with a "substantial involvement" from the grassroots to elite level.
"This position carries substantial significance, because if we get it wrong, if the sport makes errors, the significant advances achieved necessary will vanish swiftly," Kogan said.
"This represents everyone's worst fear in the realm of domestic football is a huge success story - we need to continue the progress.
"There's an enormous amount of money flowing into the game and has been invested for the past two decades, because there's no guarantee it will persist in entering the game, which is among the factors explaining I think we have to take a really clear view on challenges and obviously, of the next two or three years."
Premier League Concerns
Top flight officials resisted the creation of a regulator because of concerns about detrimental effects on the top-flight's competitiveness, but Kogan said: "I fully support the success and growth as an commercial operation of the top division.
"I of all people understand the apprehension regarding damaging the top flight as an elite competition of this country. But at the same time, if you consult with top flight officials after the recent gathering, they would have had a substantial amount of confidence -and, in fact, they have been telling us in private they have a high level of reassurance."
Political Connections
Kogan is still facing a "comprehensive investigation" by the public appointments commissioner after he acknowledged providing funds to the Labour Party in the past.
The official donated money to Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport the minister's leadership bid, along with that of the current Prime Minister.
"I have been entirely transparent regarding my past party membership [with Labour], and that political affiliation came to an end the day the parliamentary committee confirmed my selection," the chairman stated.
"I currently have no participation in any type of partisan engagement."
