'We will play a key role in football's future' - independent football regulator David Kogan
The Championship club's ongoing struggles are seen as a "major concern" and the new football authority is looking to gain the ability to look into club affairs in comparable cases, the recently named head the regulator has announced.
In a wide-ranging interview, the chairman, who was recently selected, showed understanding towards Wednesday's fanbase.
Kogan met with four supporter groups connected to the South Yorkshire club this week.
The football club have been facing challenges both on and off the pitch in the current year, with the club missing wage payments on several different times, including in the autumn.
"Obviously the club has become a significant problem for EFL and a major challenge for the sport," Kogan told.
"Sheffield Wednesday is one of the great brands for the English game and this week we have met supporters' organizations.
"Our aim is to acquire the ability... which will permit us to bring the club and similar situations referred to us if they require examination and addressed."
Economic Challenges and Ownership Situation
Wednesday's embattled owner the Thai businessman indicated in the summer he would be open to selling the club at their home ground, but he has been unable to finalize an agreement with interested parties.
Missed wage deadlines on time in March and May caused limitations by the football authorities in summer, preventing the club from carrying out any player acquisitions for the following recruitment periods, although the ban was rescinded in late summer.
Official's Viewpoint
Kogan said: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the fans of Sheffield Wednesday, teams facing challenges where fans are dedicated to a regional establishment that has existed throughout their lifetimes in numerous instances.
"I have absolute sympathy for Sheffield Wednesday, as I do for each organization that in modern times have encountered failure, or approached financial ruin, for reasons that have nothing to do with the followers."
Questioned about whether the regulator could force an owner to sell a club if they are judged inappropriate, the chairman responded: "If your question is 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the answer is once we collect the information and understand the situation, we will."
But the regulator clarified that requiring chairmen to relinquish clubs would be viewed as the ultimate measure and the authority would rather to cooperate with proprietors.
"Our least desirable course of action is begin intervening in an individual club, an particular chairman, without having the opportunity to collaborate with that proprietor to address the issues that the club's facing and the owner's facing," the regulator explained.
"But the truth is, when you look back over the history of the game, over the past few decades there have been some owners, not many, but particular people who have shown negligence in the approach they have taken toward their teams and eventually refuse to accept accountability for the coming years."
Sheffield Wednesday supporters have been voicing opposition to the team's chairman during the current campaign
'If we get it wrong, extraordinary progress vanishes'
The chairman convened with officials from numerous teams to detail the scope of the authority recently and stated it constituted a "forward-thinking discussion" with a "substantial involvement" from the National League to the Premier League.
"It's a job that's actually really important, because should mistakes occur, if the world of football gets it wrong, the extraordinary progress that's been made could disappear swiftly," the regulator warned.
"This represents everyone's worst fear in the terms of English football is a huge success story - we need to continue the progress.
"Considerable investment flowing into the game and has been channeled for the past two decades, because there's no guarantee it will continue to come into football, which is among the factors explaining I think we have to adopt a precise perspective on risk and of course, of the immediate future."
Premier League Concerns
Top flight officials resisted the establishment of an oversight body because of fears of a negative impact on the Premier League's sporting equality, but the regulator stated: "I fully support the prosperity and expansion as an financial organization of the elite league.
"Being fully aware of the worry about compromising the top flight as an elite competition of this country. But concurrently, if you engage with division representatives after this week's discussion, they would have had a high level of reassurance -and, actually, they have been telling us in private they have a significant confidence."
Ideological Links
The regulator remains subject to a "comprehensive investigation" by the official appointments authority after he revealed he contributed money to the political party in the past.
The chairman contributed funds to government minister Lisa Nandy's leadership campaign, along with that of the current Prime Minister.
"I've been completely open about my past party membership [with Labour], and that political affiliation came to an end the day the parliamentary committee confirmed my selection," Kogan said.
"I am no longer involved in any sort of politics."
