'Our role is integral to football's future' - football oversight chief David Kogan
Sheffield Wednesday's persistent issues represent a a "significant problem" and the new football authority is seeking powers to examine team situations in comparable cases, its new chair the regulator has announced.
In a wide-ranging interview, Kogan, who was appointed on Monday, expressed "sympathy" towards supporters of the Owls.
The chairman convened with four fan organizations connected to the South Yorkshire club this week.
The football club have been experiencing difficulties in multiple areas in 2025, with the club failing to pay players on time on five separate occasions, including in September.
"Evidently Wednesday represents a major concern for the league and a substantial concern for English football," the regulator explained.
"Wednesday stands as one of the great brands for the English game and this week we have met fan representatives.
"We are seeking authority... which will permit us to bring Sheffield Wednesday - and other clubs brought to our attention if they require examination and acted upon."
Monetary Issues and Leadership Concerns
Wednesday's embattled owner the current owner stated during the off-season he would be prepared to relinquish control at the stadium, but he has not been able to secure a deal with interested parties.
Missed wage deadlines on time in spring months resulted in restrictions being imposed by the English Football League (EFL) in summer, blocking the team from conducting any player acquisitions for the following recruitment periods, although that restriction was lifted in late summer.
Authority's Position
The chairman stated: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the Owls followers, Bury or any football club where fans are dedicated to a local institution that has been part of their lives in numerous instances.
"I have absolute sympathy for the club's situation, as I do for each organization that in modern times have encountered failure, or approached financial ruin, for causes separate from the followers."
Questioned about whether the oversight body could require an chairman to relinquish a club if they are deemed unsuitable, the chairman responded: "When asking whether 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the answer is once we collect the information and understand the situation, we will."
But Kogan stressed that requiring chairmen to relinquish clubs would be viewed as the ultimate measure and the oversight body would choose to work with them.
"Our least desirable course of action is start getting involved with an specific team, an particular chairman, without being in a position to cooperate with that chairman to fix the challenges confronting the team and the owner's facing," the regulator explained.
"But the truth is, when you look back over the history of the game, over the recent generations there have been particular chairmen, few in number, but particular people who have shown negligence in the approach they have taken toward their organizations and finally decline to assume obligation for the future."
Owls fans have been voicing opposition to owner Dejphon Chansiri during the current campaign
'If we get it wrong, extraordinary progress vanishes'
The chairman convened with representatives from 110 clubs to lay out the remit of the authority recently and insisted it was a "forward-thinking discussion" with a "significant participation" from the lower divisions to the top flight.
"It's a job that's actually really important, because should mistakes occur, if the sport makes errors, the extraordinary progress that's been made might evaporate swiftly," the regulator warned.
"This represents everyone's worst fear in the terms of English football is a major achievement - we need to continue the progress.
"There's an enormous amount of money flowing into the game and has come into football for the last 20 or 25 years, because certainty is lacking it will keep flowing into the sport, which is one of the reasons why I think we have to maintain a focused outlook on risk and of course, of the coming seasons."
Elite Division Worries
Top flight officials resisted the creation of a regulator because of apprehensions regarding adverse consequences on the top-flight's competitiveness, but the regulator stated: "I'm absolutely committed to the achievement and development as an financial organization of the top division.
"Being fully aware of the concern of undermining the top flight as an elite competition of this country. But simultaneously, if you talk to the Premier League after today's meeting, they would have had a high level of reassurance -and, indeed, they have been telling us in private they have a considerable comfort."
Partisan Associations
Kogan is still facing a "comprehensive investigation" by the official appointments authority after he acknowledged providing funds to the Labour Party in recent years.
The 68-year-old donated money to Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport the minister's leadership bid, along with that of the government leader.
"I have been entirely transparent regarding my former ideological connection [with Labour], and that political affiliation came to an end the day the parliamentary committee confirmed my selection," the chairman stated.
"I am presently disconnected from any sort of politics."
